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South-Eastern Europe 

The Main Problem of the 
Present World Struggle 




Serbian Soldier and Father in Retreat Through Albania 



South-Eastern Europe 

The Main Problem of the 
Present World Struggle 



BY 

VLADISLAV R. SAVIC 

Former Head of she Press Bureau in 
the Serbian Foreign Office 



Introduction by 

NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER 

President, Columbia University 




New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 1 918, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



{9(8 



\ 



- 



JAN I7I5J8S 

* * * 

••• 

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago : 17 North Wabash Ave. 
Toronto : 25 Richmond Street, W. 
London : 2 1 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh ; 100 Princes Street 

©GI.A481460 









INTRODUCTION 

THE steps necessary to establish a durable 
peace after the present war include a 
serious effort to settle, on the basis of 
justice, what European diplomacy has long known 
as the Eastern question. That question arises, 
first, out of the presence of the Turk in Europe, 
and second, out of the strangely mixed complex 
of races, religions and languages which inhabits 
the Balkan Peninsula. There can be no world 
peace while the Eastern question is permitted to 
remain open and to offer temptation to the ambi- 
tions or to the greed of other nations. 

That the Turk must leave Europe will now prob- 
ably go without saying. Confined to Asia Minor, 
with ancient Brusa as his capital, the Turk may be 
given full opportunity to live his own life and to 
develop his good qualities without at the same time 
offering invitation to constant friction and dis- 
turbance oy nis presence in Europe. With the 
Turk gone ana with the just claims of Greece recog- 
nized, the main problem is to give civil and political 
liberty to the Southern Slavs and to assure them 
opportunity to work out their own destiny. There 
is no need to traverse here any of the ground so 
thoroughly gone over by M. Savic in the following 
pages. He makes it plain both how the Southern 
Slavs came to be in the Balkans, what their fate 



INTRODUCTION 

there has been, and in what forms their problem of 
to-morrow presents itself to the statesmen of to-day. 
Political prophecy is always dangerous, and never 
more so than at a time like this when the world is in 
ferment; yet there are not wanting signs that the 
principle of federation is to be still farther extended 
and is perhaps to include what has been the Russian 
Empire in its sphere of influence and control. This 
same principle of federation may also be found to 
contain the best solution of the Eastern question. 
It may perhaps provide a way by which the Southern 
Slavs, without surrendering their local traditions, 
may be brought into a single powerful and inde- 
pendent State. It is but a few months ago that 
the Serbian Government, temporarily established 
on the Island of Corfu, issued the official statement 
which is known as the Declaration of Corfu. It 
seems worth while to insert that Declaration here 
in full as an illustration of that to which M. Savid's 
argument may lead: 

Declaration op Corfu 

1. The State of the Serbs, Groats, and Slovenes, who are also 
known by the name of Southern Slavs or Jugoslavs, will be a 
free and independent Kingdom, with an indivisible territory and 
unity of power. This State will be a constitutional, democratic, 
and Parliamentary monarchy, with the Karageorgevitch dynasty, 
which has always shared the ideals and feelings of the nation in 
placing above everything else the national liberty and will at its 

head. 

2. The name of this State will be the Kingdom of the Serbs, 
Croats, and Slovenes, and the title of the sovereign will be King of 
the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. 

3. This State will only have one coat of arms, one flag, and one 
crown. 



INTRODUCTION 

4. The four different flags of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes will 
have equal rights, and may be hoisted freely on all occasions. The 
same will obtain for the four different coats of arms. 

5. The three national denominations, the Serbs, Croats, and 
Slovenes, are equal before the law in all the territory of the kingdom, 
and each may freely use it on all occasions in public life and before 
all authorities. 

6. The two Cyrillic and Latin alphabets also have the same rights 
and every one may freely use them in all the territory of the king- 
dom. The royal and local self-governing authorities have the right 
and ought to employ the two alphabets according to the desire of 
the citizens. 

7. All religions are recognized, and may be free and publicly 
practiced. The Orthodox , Roman Catholic , and Mussulman re- 
ligions, which are most professed in our country, will be equal, and 
will enjoy the same rights in relation to the State. In view of these 
principles, the Legislature will be careful to preserve the religious 
peace in conformity with the spirit and tradition of our entire nation. 

8. The Gregorian calendar will be adopted as soon as possible. 

9. The territory of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes will comprise 
all the territory where our nation lives in compact masses and 
without discontinuity, and where it could not be mutilated without 
injuring the vital interests of the community. Our nation does not 
ask for anything which belongs to others, and only claims that 
which belongs to it. It desires to free itself and establish its unity. 
That is why it conscientiously and firmly rejects every partial solu- 
tion of the problem of its freedom from the Austro-Hungarian 
domination. 

10. The Adriatic Sea, in the interests of liberty and equal rights 
of all nations, is to be free and open to all and each. 

11. All citizens throughout the territory of the kingdom are 
equal and enjoy the same rights in regard to the State and the law. 

12. The election of Deputies to the national representation will 
take place under universal suffrage, which is to be equal, direct, and 
secret. The same will apply to the elections in the communes and 
other administrative institutions. A vote will be taken in each 
commune. 

13. The Constitution to be established after the conclusion of 
peace by the Constituent Assembly elected by universal, direct, 
and secret suffrage will serve as a basis for the life of the State. It 
will be the origin and ultimate end of all the powers and all rights 
by which the whole national life will be regulated. The Constitu- 



INTRODUCTION 

tion will give the people the opportunity of exercising its particular 
energies in local autonomies, regulated by natural, social, and 
economic conditions. The Constitution must be adopted in its 
entirety by a numerical majority of the Constituent Assembly, and 
all other laws passed by the Constituent Assembly will not come into 
force until they have been sanctioned by the King. 

Thus the united nation of Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenes will 
form a State of twelve million inhabitants. This State will be a 
guarantee of their national independence and of their general 
national progress and civilization, and a powerful rampart against 
the pressure of the Germans, and an inseparable ally of all civilized 
peoples and States. Having proclaimed the principle of right and 
liberty and of international justice, it will form a worthy part of 
the new society of nations. 

Signed at Corfu, July 20, 1917, by the President of the Council 
and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Serbia, Nikola 
Pashitch, and the President of the Jugoslav Committee, Dr. Anto 
Trumbic. 

It will not be forgotten that the first gun of the 
present war was fired on the banks of the Danube. 
It marked the attack by the Austrians on the old 
fortress of Belgrade. It was also at Belgrade, in 
1876, that those hostilities began which became the 
Russo-Turkish War and which led to the Treaty of 
Berlin in 1878. Although these two events are 
some forty years apart, they are nevertheless two 
scenes in one and the same world drama, the theme 
of which is the struggle of Southeastern Europe for 
civil and political liberty. In 1876 it was the 
Turk who disputed the right of the peoples of 
Southeastern Europe to establish and maintain 
their own governments. To-day it is the Teuton, 
with the aid of the Turk, who is endeavoring to 
uphold the same despotic position. Everyone 
can now see that the Treaty of Berlin was one of the 
most colossal blunders in modern political history. 



INTRODUCTION 

It so shuffled the cards of diplomacy as to mislead 
the people concerning the game which was being 
played, and instead of settling the grave questions 
with which it dealt, that Treaty simply glossed 
them over and opened the way for a new military 
struggle for which the Teuton was far-sighted 
enough to make immediate preparation. All the 
world sees to-day, what Great Britain and much of 
the world did not see in 1878, that the formation of a 
strong South Slavonic State in the Balkan Penin- 
sula is an indispensable condition of the future 
peace of the world. 

This book by M. Savid is not, therefore, a book 
for the specialist alone or for him only who is inter- 
ested in the minute details of the Eastern question. 
It is rather a book which makes appeal to every 
intelligent reader who wishes to have the knowledge 
necessary to form an independent opinion as to the 
conditions on which durable peace shall rest. 

M. Savic is a native Serb who, through service 
as correspondent of the English press, has been 
brought in close touch with British public opinion. 
That his name and knowledge are respected in Great 
Britain is amply testified to by the cordial reception 
which the English edition of his book has received. 
The American edition should be welcomed with 
equal eagerness. M. Savic is by birth and training 
a true representative of the Serbian democracy, and 
both his mental attitude and his forms of thinking 
make strong appeal to the Anglo-Saxon reader. The 
Serbians have in this war revealed themselves anew 
as true heroes and as worthy in high degree of the 



INTRODUCTION 

confidence and support of other nations. The 
erection of the South Slavonic State will not only 
bring a noble and long-suffering people under the 
rule of free institutions, but it will put an end for- 
ever to that Teutonic dream of a Mittel-Europa 
which has played so large a part in the planning and 
in the carrying on of the present war. 

Nicholas Murray Butler 

Columbia University 
December 15, 1917 



Contents 



CHAPTER B 

I. The Coming op America . .- . 7 

II. The Case op Austria-Hungary . . 18 

- III. The Earlier History of the Southern 

Slavs 35~\ 

~ IV. Austria-Hungary and the Southern 

Slavs . . . . . . 60 

~ V. The Austro-Serbian Causes of the War 93 

VI. Serbia in the World War . . . 114?v 

VII. The Problem op the Adriatic . . 149 

VIII. The Serbo-Bulgarian Relations . . 170 

IX. The Aspirations op the Southern Slavs 193 

X. America and Southern Slavs . . 206 

XI. Commercial Possibilities with Southern 

Slav State 219 

XII. Southern Slavs and Pan-Slavism . . 237 

XIII. A Glance into the Future . . . 257 

Index ." 267 



In Southern Slav names: 
a is always to be pronounced as a in father 



e 


tt 


tt t 


e " hell 


i 


it 


tt t 


i " kill 





tt 


tt t 


o " doll 


u 


tt 


tt t 


u " full 


c 


tt 


tt i 


1 ts " Tsar 


5,6 


tt 


tt i 


' ch" church 


• 

3 


tt 


tt t 


y " yoke; yes 


i 


tt 


tt t 


sh a shade 


2 


tt 


u t 


j " jour in French 



There are no diphthongs in the Serbo-Croatian language; 
each vowel is pronounced separately. 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 

THE United States has entered the war; with 
this event an era of human history has 
been closed, and a new and brighter one 
has begun. Just as the discovery of America is 
a great date in human history, so the entrance of 
the United States into the present war will make 
another such date with far-reaching moral con- 
sequences. The discovery of America played a 
most important part in the material organization 
of the world, and until now the influence of Amer- 
ica has been mainly in that field. During the last 
century the Monroe doctrine enabled America 
to grow up and to prepare for the present strug- 
gle, by keeping Europe off during her infancy. The 
value of the Monroe doctrine was in its limitation. 
Very wisely the American statesmen of a century 
ago put it forward as a screen from European 
turmoil and greediness, so long as America was 
growing up and gathering her forces. The pres- 
ent attitude makes a new departure. It is the as- 
sertion of America's full vigor and a new and 
larger conception of her role and destiny. Amer- 
ica has attained her maturity and is extending the 
Monroe doctrine to the whole world. She is taking 
part in the struggle in order to "make the world 
safe for democracy." This means the application 

7 



8 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

of a new principle to the international relations. 
The United States has proclaimed by her action 
that humanity is a large family, that no nation 
can live in itself, by itself, and for itself. The 
spirit of Machiavellism is to be replaced by the 
spirit of Franklinism. The, happiness and great- 
ness of a nation is to be sought, not like here- 
tofore in the ruin and misery of its neighbors, in 
the plotting against their peace and prosperity, as 
was taught by Machiavelli and applied so thor- 
oughly by Germany, but in solicitude for their wel- 
fare and in harmonious cooperation among all the 
nations of the earth. 

We insist that it is the entrance of the United 
States into the present struggle that has opened a 
new chapter of human history. True, the present 
war had lasted for nearly three years before the 
United States entered it. It has been conducted 
on such a big scale, it has already caused such 
enormous losses in lives and property, that the en- 
trance of the United States will mean very little 
in that respect. The havoc done upon land and 
sea has been so terrible that nothing more ap- 
palling can scarcely be imagined. There have been 
prolonged and terrible wars before, in Europe and 
elsewhere, bringing great changes in the political 
map of the world, as well as very important 
changes in the distribution of power, so that this 
war will bring nothing quite new in this regard. 
Even the principles for which Germany is fighting 
are obviously different from and opposed to the 
principles which the Allies, before the entrance 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 9 

of America, proclaimed to fight for. The Allies 
declared solemnly that they are fighting for the 
freedom and independence of small nations in 
Europe. 

But here the entrance of the United States has 
brought a great and fundamental change. The 
Allies fighting German militarism, have been 
obliged by events to take an attitude opposed to 
Germany's sheer contempt of the right of other 
peoples. They entered the war, not so much to 
fight the German conceptions of the State and 
Government, as to protect their own special 
interests ; in Democracy they found a mighty ally, 
and resolved, some of them, the Russian autocracy 
for instance, half-heartedly to fight under its flag. 
Solemnly proclaimed principles were, in a way, 
subordinated to special aims and in many in- 
stances limited by special secret conventions and 
treaties. Although now opposing with all their 
might the pernicious principles of Prussian 
Junkerism, the Allies have not been quite innocent 
of the spirit that animates the German Imperial 
Government. But the United States entered the 
struggle quite differently. She brought a new 
spirit, that marked the new era of humanity. From 
the outset the United States pursued no material 
interests. She pondered a long time and entered 
the struggle fully conscious of the enormous sac- 
rifices she was incurring and of the great moral 
responsibility she was assuming before God and 
humanity. 

Happy America! It was thy privilege to enter 



10 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

this struggle like a true hero sans peur et 
sans reproche and fight for the loftiest ideals of 
humanity. These ideals have been so clearly 
formulated by thy President and have been so 
heartily indorsed by this great Commonwealth, 
that it makes one of the brightest spectacles of the 
whole human history. Indeed, since the time of 
Marcus Aurelius, has there been any other man in- 
vested with such a tremendous power, who has 
acted in such a spirit of Christian humility as a 
true servus servorum as President Wilson? But 
more than that ; can humanity show any other in- 
stance of a great and powerful community so will- 
ingly sacrificing its lives and property for the at- 
tainment of no selfish end, no material gain; a 
nation of a hundred million people like a single 
man walking in the path of godliness, bringing 
modestly all their goods and lives in the service of 
a high ideal, kneeling reverently before the mys- 
terious sources whence emanates all life, all jus- 
tice, and everything that is worth living for in 
this life of ours? 

* Poor Germany! Has thy spirit sunk so low 
that thou canst no more distinguish the brightest 
light from hellish clouds ; the plainest truth from 
the basest calumnies? Canst thou for a moment 
believe the vile slandering of thy imperial gov- 
ernment that the United States has entered this 
struggle prompted by selfish ends and cunning 
calculation? Is there anything in this world the 
German government is fighting for that Germany 
would not haye offered to the United States to 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 11 

win her to her side! Is there anything con- 
cerning the increase of territory or material 
power that the United States could not have ob- 
tained by merely blackmailing one or the other 
coalition of belligerent powers, if such were her 
methods and aims? Has the canker of insane 
ambition so deeply depraved the reasoning power 
of the German people, that they can no longer 
distinguish the good from the evil? But this is 
not the first, and surely will not be the last, 
calumny spread by the German government. 

In courting victory the German militarists were 
obliged to deceive and persuade the German na- 
tion that its very existence was threatened by 
the wiles of British diplomacy, by the aggressive 
spirit of Bussian barbarism. The German mili- 
tarists professed to make a defensive war and 
even tried to persuade the small nations remain- 
ing neutral that Germany is fighting for liberty 
and civilization in Europe, expecting their sym- 
pathies to be ranged on her side. 

De la Bochefoucauld has said, in his "Maxims," 
that hypocrisy is the best homage to virtue. The 
hypocrisy of the German military party is the 
best proof that no large part of humanity to-day 
can be induced or expected to fight enthusias- 
tically for purely economic or materialistic causes 
instead of a high ideal. 

The German militarists, in so far as they have 
not themselves been deceived, obviously sought 
to prolong and fortify the power of their caste, 
to justify their dominion over the obedient masses 



n SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

of the German people ; and by adding to Germany 
some new provinces of the Empire — as Alsace- 
Lorraine was added some forty-six years ago — 
they hoped to prolong the influence and the policy 
of their own party, under the pretext that the 
Fatherland was menaced by the revengefulness of 
France or some other nation. 

In spite of the pessimists, humanity has be- 
come more idealistic and moral, and upon that 
can be fairly founded the hopes of a brighter era 
which must dawn upon the world as a return for 
the enormous and costly sacrifices made by all 
belligerent countries of to-day. The Allied 
Powers fighting German militarism can assure 
complete victory for their cause only by remain- 
ing faithful to the principle of the equality of 
every nation of Europe, however small or great 
it may be. Humanity would be no better of! if, on 
the morrow of the victory of the Allies, German 
imperialism is to be replaced by Russian, Italian 
or British imperialism. Europe, scarcely emerged 
from a terrible and exhausting strife, would have 
to prepare for a new and more bloody struggle, 
in which the old passions and prejudices would 
remain, and wherein the deadly weapons of mutual 
extermination would be new, perfected and made 
more effective. Indeed, it would be a pity for 
millions of the brave and valiant hearts which 
ceased to beat on the many battlefields of Europe, 
and the sacrifices of the greatest holocaust hu- 
manity has ever seen would be in vain, if the 
greediness of some should provoke and arm the 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 13 

hatred of others; if the oppression of the weak 
should be a perpetuated trait of European political 
life. Europe is to find her peace not in strategical 
frontiers, but in the respect of the rights of the 
smaller and neglected nations. The entrance of 
the United States into the war is a sure guarantee 
for this. 

The human consciousness has outgrown the 
morality underlying the conduct of many of the 
European States. It was a rare privilege of 
President Wilson to be the spokesman of the new 
morality of mankind. And it is still a greater 
privilege of this country to be a sincere champion 
of this higher morality among the nations. In- 
stead of cabinet plots and court intrigues, the 
policy of all governments is henceforth to be puri- 
fied by the sense of responsibility and the bright 
rays of publicity. In opposition to the baleful 
German doctrine of an irresponsible state pursu- 
ing its own abstract ends, the nations are to be 
governed by recognized moral principles ; the sin- 
gle states are to conduct themselves and to be 
judged by the same standards of responsibility as 
the individual citizens of civilized societies. The 
era is closing, to use the fit expression of Presi- 
dent Wilson, "when peoples were nowhere con- 
sulted by their rulers and wars provoked and 
waged in the interest of dynasties or little groups 
of ambitious men," when nations were handed 
over to alien rulers like so much human chattel. 
At last the long-neglected rights of the smaller 
nations are to be recognized and the world is going 



14 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to be based, not on the temporary equipoise of 
might, but on the solid basis of the equality of 
Eights. 

These principles were formulated by no one 
more clearly than by President Wilson, and there 
is no other nation in the world better prepared, 
morally and materially, to fight for them and to 
see them realized, than the United States. As the 
trustees of the highest ideals of humanity, the 
people of the United States have the right and 
duty to secure their complete victory in the 
world ; and the government of this country, being 
responsible for its sacrifices in blood and money 
has the right and duty to impose them upon 
slackening or reluctant governments of Europe. 

This cannot be attained unless the political map 
of Europe undergoes many changes, and nowhere 
must those changes be so fundamental and im- 
portant as in South-Eastern Europe. The un- 
settled conditions which have prevailed there for 
centuries, tempted the military nations of the 
East and the West to try to conquer all those 
lands. After Rome and Byzantium, the Huns and 
Avars, Franks and Turks all in turn attempted 
to succeed where the others had failed ; to impose 
their dominion upon all the countries between 
Constantinople and Vienna. At last the Germans, 
who were better prepared and scientifically or- 
ganized, let loose the storm in order to realize 
their dream of a German Central Europe, as a 
preliminary and a necessary step towards their 
"World Empire." 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 15 

It was by no fortuitous chance that the World 
War began by the Austrian attack on Serbia. 
There must have been deep causes and historico- 
political reasons, why the present storm broke 
out just in that storm-center of Europe. It was 
because the Serbian or the Southern Slav question 
is the central problem of South-Eastern Europe, 
and at the same time it indicates clearly that the 
future European peace cannot be thought of 
without a just and radical solution of the Serbian 
question in all its magnitude. If in the present 
volume we speak mainly about Serbia and the 
Southern Slavs it is because that question is the 
pivotal point in the sound reconstruction of South- 
Eastern Europe. When the Southern Slav prob- 
lem is tackled and rationally solved, all other 
questions correlative to it will be automatically 
solved also. 

A glance at the ethnographic map of the na- 
tionalities in South-Eastern Europe will yet more 
strongly illustrate the above truth. The reader 
will see that from the Italian frontier south of 
the Drave to the iEgean lives a nation, one in 
blood, language and traditions which, besides 
Serbia and Montenegro, inhabits also Bosnia, 
Hercegovina, Dalmatia, Istria, Goritzia, southern 
Carinthia and Styria, Carniola, Croatia, Slavonia, 
Medjumurje, the western Banat of Temesvar, 
Backa and Baranya in South Hungary. This na- 
tion, separated in so many provinces for obvious 
political reasons, is known under the name of 
gerbo-Croats and Slovenes, Between the Serbs 



16 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and the Croats there is no other difference than 
the difference of religion. The Slovenes speak a 
dialect of the Serbo-Croat language, but in view 
of their small numbers (only approximately 
1,300,000) they recognize the whole danger menac- 
ing their existence, should they be separated from 
their kinsmen, and therefore since the beginning 
of the last century they have become the most 
fervent apostles of the national union of all the 
Southern Slavs in one state, whose political con- 
stitution shall be determined later on by legal 
representatives of the people, based upon the real 
interests, wishes and free will of the whole nation. 

The reader may gather why Germany, in push- 
ing on her dream of world dominion, was obliged 
by necessity first to crush Serbia, in order to es- 
tablish firmly her dominion in the Balkans, and 
to break up once and for all the national re- 
sistance of the Southern Slavs. It is now obvious 
that it does not suffice that the Allies should beat 
Germany, but they must erect a strong barrier 
against her ambition by forming a living wall of 
free independent states on the basis of democracy 
and nationality. The Serbo-Croats and Slovenes 
present the best opportunity of attaining this ob- 
ject, which is in accordance with justice and 
solemnly proclaimed principles. 

The last peace proposals were a snare cunningly 
laid to secure for Germany by diplomatic means 
what she is unable to obtain by force. Fortu- 
nately, the Allies were not to be entrapped. Their 
spontaneous unanimity in refusing to treat at 



THE COMING OF AMERICA 17 

present with Germany, the entrance of America 
into the struggle and her grim determination to 
continue the fight for democracy, are the sure 
guarantees that the war aims of the Allies will 
be attained, and the world will be ruled by loftier 
principles. 

But the value of the loftiest principle will be 
tested by practical achievements. America cannot 
but be victorious in the battlefield, but if her gov- 
ernment should fail to secure a peace which will 
be the embodiment of her principles, she will be 
defeated, notwithstanding her victories in beating 
the German army. Therefore, American govern- 
ment and opinion must be armed with full knowl- 
edge of the political and racial conditions of 
Europe and especially concerning the lands from 
Vienna to Constantinople, soaked with blood of 
centuries. The eternal goal of all conquerors, they 
are also the main ambition of Kaiser William II, 
and at the end of this war they will be the hotly 
disputed ground of all the cabinet intrigues, and 
many veiled selfish calculations. 

The present work has been undertaken with the 
pious desire to contribute, however modestly, to 
the American knowledge of European problems as 
necessary means for the final victory of America's 
principles. The writer's idea is to supply her 
public in one single volume with historical and 
political material concerning those questions of 
South-Eastern Europe, without the thorough so- 
lution of which the security of European peace 
and victory of democracy cannot be realized 



n 

THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

THE present ordeal is a fearful crucible out 
of which a new world will arise. Europe 
will be changed and new political group- 
ings will take place. Of course, no reconstruction 
of South-Eastern Europe can be thought of be- 
fore we get a clear answer to the question, can 
Austria-Hungary be spared? can the principles 
for which America is fighting, be applied to 
her? To be able to answer the question, how far 
will Austria-Hungary be affected by the changes 
in Europe and whether she can be maintained, 
we must make an impartial survey of the forces 
governing the Habsburg monarchy. 

Until quite recently the general trend of Euro- 
pean affairs was very much in favor of the 
Habsburg monarchy. Both groups of European 
powers, those who feared Russia as well as those 
who dreaded Germany, favored the maintenance 
and the strengthening of Austria-Hungary. To 
both of them, deceived by outward appearances, 
the Danubian empire appeared as the most de- 
sirable factor of the European equipoise. Both 
the Pan-German and the Pan-Slav dangers 
worked for it. Some feared the chaos and con- 
fusion which would follow the disruption of 

18 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 19 

Austria, unable to conceive it other than as & 
formation of feeble little states which must all be 
drawn into the orbit of Russia, if not actually 
incorporated with the mighty Slav empire. 
Others, especially France, dreaded the dismem- 
berment of Austria for fear that Germany might 
increase her strength by incorporating Austria's 
German provinces. No wonder that many a 
writer in Western Europe eagerly repeated the 
words of the Czech historian Palacky, "If 
Austria-Hungary did not exist, it ought to be 
created." 

But, independently of the observers interested 
in the maintenance of Austria-Hungary from na- 
tional, political or other motives, there was some- 
thing more about Austria-Hungary, which induced 
the most impartial student of European relations 
to desire, or at least to tolerate, a new lease of 
life to the Habsburg monarchy. At first glance, 
it was a country which united in itself many 
various, but most precious, elements necessary for 
the prosperity of a state and the welfare of its 
people. In Austria-Hungary met together all 
European races represented by so many gifted 
nations, Latins, Slavs, Teutons and Magyars, who, 
with their recognized brilliant qualities, if har- 
moniously welded and wisely encouraged, could 
contribute to the prosperity of the empire, and 
to the superiority and brilliancy of its civilization, 
which might easily surpass everything attained 
until now in Europe. Materially and geograph- 
ically the Danubian monarchy was in a position 



20 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to be envied by many other states. In variety 
and beauty of its scenery, in richness of its soil, 
in the extent of its frontiers, in space for the 
increase of its population, in the navigability of 
its rivers, in the safety, size and beauty of its 
seaports, in the wealth of its mines and forests, 
the Habsburg empire was better provided than 
any other European country. It was difficult to 
discover anything lacking for its strength and 
prosperity. And quite naturally, many logically 
thinking people hoped that Austria-Hungary 
would reform herself and become what she ought 
to be, thanks to the marvelous resources of her 
soil and gifts of the nations so lavishly bestowed 
upon the empire by nature and history. They 
looked upon Austria-Hungary through the eyes 
of their dreams and wishes as a peaceful, con- 
servative, non-aggressive state, where were met 
together in an amicable and willing union all the 
European races. Such a Danubian monarchy was 
destined to become the model and forerunner of 
the future United States of Europe, when all her 
nations would be bound together in peace, love 
and mutual respect, for the realization of a higher 
and loftier ideal and the creation of a true 
christian civilization in spirit and unsurpassing 
beauty. 

However, Austria-Hungary, far from tending 
to realize such a lofty idea, did not prosper, or 
at least did not develop her economic and com- 
mercial resources at the rate of the neighboring 
countries. Even little Serbia, assailed by so many 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 21 

evils, hampered by so many obstacles, could fairly 
compare her progress to that of Bosnia, Herce- 
govina and Dalmatia since they had passed into 
Austrian occupation. Austria's population, not 
only from the rocky Dalmatian coast, but even 
from the rich Hungarian and Galician plains, 
emigrated to America and Australia. Her ports 
remained idle, her large navigable rivers carried 
a very limited traffic, her inhabitants throughout 
the empire were wasted by poverty, and dissatis- 
faction was general. There was no province, no 
nation and no class in this vast empire where 
people felt happy or contented. 

There is a strange and incurable disease in the 
body politic of the Danubian monarchy. The 
most degrading oppression, the least justifiable 
exaction, sheer injustice, the cynical denial of any 
right of citizenship are always cloaked by a form 
of legality and law-prescribed procedure. Every 
student of it may see how there is a state en- 
dowed with every modern institution warranting 
the freedom of the citizens and yet governed by 
police which disposes of the liberty and honor of 
every subject of the empire. There are parlia- 
ments, obviously for the purpose of safeguarding 
the constitutional rights of citizens and of con- 
trolling the acts of government, but there is 
no spirit of liberty and independence in them. 
They have never protected anybody, and have 
always been hoodwinked and controlled by the 
government. Thanks to the miserable conditions 
prevailing throughout the empire and the artifi- 



22 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

cially fostered animosity among its different na- 
tionalities, there exists no spirit ot public control, 
and nobody expects or hopes anything valuable 
from its parliaments. In Austria the absolutism 
is very veiled by frequent application of Article 
XIV of the Constitution, which provides the gov- 
ernment with constitutional means to govern 
without a parliament and against the spirit of the 
Constitution, whilst, owing to the employment of 
brutal force and unheard of corruption, the 
parliamentary elections in Hungary have always 
returned a large majority to the government in 
power. 

To every keen and independent observer 
Austria-Hungary was in a state of permanent de- 
cay and her maintenance necessitated not only a 
vigilant bureaucratic machinery and powerful 
military organization inside the empire, but also 
a close alliance with Germany. This last factor 
proved fatal for Austria-Hungary and surely will 
be instrumental in her utter ruin and final dis- 
ruption. In its feebleness the Habsburg dynasty, 
relying upon the tremendous strength of Germany 
and feeling protected in the shade of Germany's 
shining armor, could continue the pursuance of 
its cherished ideas of territorial aggrandizement 
and rule over the nations in the good old way of 
centralization and absolutism. 

The predominant factor was her dynasty, which, 
secluded in the summit of its exalted position, 
wrapped as in an impenetrable cloud in the belief 
in its divine right, never stooped to the reality 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY £3 

of modern exigencies nor tried to act in harmony 
with the spirit of the time or the wants and needs 
of its peoples. The advent of democracy meant 
for it the loss of its prerogatives, and, like one 
of his predecessors, Ferdinand the Catholic, who 
preferred to rule over a desert than to govern 
an empire of heretics, Francis Joseph preferred 
not to rule at all than to rule according to some 
new and by him detested principle. 

There was no soul in Austria-Hungary, she was 
always lacking an ideal, as Napoleon used to say 
of her. The ideal that could save Austria and 
spare Europe the awful slaughter of our days, 
was the complete enfranchisement of her nations 
and the reconstruction of the empire on a broad 
and sincere democratic basis. But that which 
seems most natural and easy for a citizen of this 
country was a most difficult thing to accomplish 
in Austria-Hungary. It meant really the advent 
of a new world; it meant a complete change in 
the ruling psychology, it would be abandonment 
of deeply rooted prejudices, the forsaking of most 
cherished dreams and ambitions, and the sacri- 
ficing of selfish interests enhanced by an unjustly 
conquered position. All the forces that governed 
Austria-Hungary were opposed to such a change, 
which could be brought about only by their utter 
defeat. The revolutions in Great Britain and 
France effected more than the disposition of a 
king or the change of a dynasty. They abolished 
the principle of government by divine right and 
prepared the advent of a modern democracy. In 



U SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Austria all the revolutionary outbreaks merely 
rippled the surface, without being able to effect 
any change in the depth of her life. 

Austria-Hungary, ruled by a bigot dynasty 
allied to an intolerable aristocracy, was a living 
anachronism in Europe and, like Turkey, was as- 
sailed from every side by the growing forces of 
her nationalities endowed with ever-increasing 
centrifugal motion. In order to maintain its rule, 
her dynasty divided the power with the Germans 
and the Magyars, leaving to their tender mercy 
and greedy exploitation all other nationalities in 
the monarchy. But even such a combination was 
too weak to resist the pressure from without and 
to subdue the centrifugal motions of the different 
nationalities, therefore all three dominant factors 
— the dynasty, the Germans, and the Magyars — 
allied themselves with Germany. Austria-Hun- 
gary became the advance-guard of the Pan-Ger- 
man onrush to the East, to stand or perish with 
German victory or defeat. 

To Bismarck is attributed the cynical saying : 
"Austria-Hungary is a cow to be grazed on the 
Balkan fields; when she has grazed enough she 
must be killed for the profit of Germany.' ' And 
Germany acted accordingly. The present war has 
proved beyond any doubt the truth of the words 
above quoted. Since 1866 Austria has lost com- 
plete freedom of action and has been allowed only 
such policy as directly or indirectly serves Ger- 
man plans or increases German power and in- 
fluence. Austria-Hungary and her dynasty were 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 25 

always highly honored and praised by Berlin and 
its satellites, but twice or thrice during the last 
fifty years they were unpleasantly warned and 
practically coerced by Berlin to abandon the path 
which might possibly injure German interests or 
open for them a way of escape from the German 
control, until at last the German victory over 
Austria-Hungary was so complete, that Germany 
in a would-be Austrian cause was able to lead 
Austria-Hungary submissively to bleed to exhaus- 
tion for the realization of the German dream of 
world dominion. The Magyars would always have 
opposed as strongly as Germans the reconstruc- 
tion of Austria-Hungary on the basis of democ- 
racy and federation, as it would entail the loss 
of their position and the abandonment of their 
cherished means of forcible magyarization. The 
Magyar oligarchy, which allied to, and supported 
by, Germany, ruled by force and corruption over 
so large a number of alien nations, was not pre- 
pared to make any concession, and preferred to 
rule over an impoverished Hungary enslaved to 
Germany rather than to share their power with 
any of the subjugated races. 

These three predominant factors in Austria- 
Hungary, the Germans, the Hapsburg dynasty 
and the Magyars, were so closely united in a fatal 
concordance of ambitions and interests that it is 
difficult to say which among them was more re- 
sponsible and a more willing party to the crim- 
inal conspiracy against peace and European 
liberties. Germany coerced the Hapsburg dynasty 



£6 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to her subservience by the ever-present menace 
of dismembering its monarchy and incorporating 
its German provinces. They coerced the Magyars 
to the same effect by menacing them with the en- 
franchisement of the other nationalities in Hun- 
gary. The Hapsburg dynasty, by its willingness 
to assist Germany in her schemes of world domin- 
ion, exacted in payment for her services the up- 
holding of its divine right over the peoples in the 
monarchy, and her diplomatic and military assist- 
ance for the realization of its own ambitions and 
plans of conquest in the Balkans. The Magyars, 
also, in turn the masters and the slaves, obtained 
the approval and support of the Habsburg dynasty 
and of the Germans for the maintenance of their 
privileged position and continuation of their 
short-sighted policy of magyarization and oppres- 
sion, as reward for their support of the ambitions 
of the Hapsburg dynasty as well as of those of 
Germany. 

It was a chain so interwoven that if one link in 
it had been missing the conspiracy against peace 
and democracy would have failed and the whole 
plot against Europe would have exploded at once. 
Had the Habsburg dynasty stooped from its ex- 
alted position of divine right, and studied its in- 
terests more in accordance with the happiness and 
wants of its peoples, it would never have had 
need for German support or Magyar bribery. 
The Danubian monarchy might indeed have 
tended to develop on the lines of those dreamers 
and over-logical thinkers, who liked to see in her 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 27 

a forerunner of the future United States of a 
happier Europe, cured of the racial animosities 
and crazy ambitions for conquest and dominion 
By force. Then Germany would perhaps never 
have formed her plan of world dominion nor have 
embarked upon that perilous enterprise, armed 
with her vast arsenal of destructive weapons and 
frightfulness. Had Germany withheld her as- 
sistance to the Habsburg dynasty the latter would 
never have formed her plan of the conquest of 
the Balkans and would either have reformed her- 
self, or given place to new forces of peace and 
progress. Had not the Magyars, in their blind 
contempt of other nationalities, or in their foolish 
as well as criminal wish to dominate them as 
vassals of the Germans and of the Hapsburg 
dynasty, accepted the bribes, and had they re- 
fused their support, it is very doubtful whether 
Europe would ever have undergone such a fearful 
crisis as the present one. 

Germany, having made of the Magyars and the 
Hapsburg dynasty her obedient tools, pushed 
Austria-Hungary into her fatal onrush to the 
East. She was perfectly aware that the Austrian 
advance would arouse less suspicion in Europe and 
therefore could be more easily achieved. But she 
was also thoroughly convinced that every new 
conquest of Austria-Hungary on her way to the 
East would make the latter weaker, more in need 
of German protection, and consequently a more 
subservient weapon in the hand of Germany. She 
knew yerj well the military and economic impor- 



28 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

tance of the position occupied by Serbia; Serbia 
was the key to her whole edifice of a grandiose 
plan for the domination of the world. All the 
German efforts in Constantinople and the bril- 
liant situation she had created in Turkey could be 
made fruitful, or, as German scientists would say, 
could be " organized to yield a maximum output' ' 
in the interest of Germany, if she could obtain 
undisputed command over Serbia and access to 
Salonica. Proceeding methodically, Germany 
wished to begin, and to be satisfied for a short 
time, with the occupation of Serbia. Only after 
she had organized and fortified central Europe 
both economically and militarily could she, with 
far greater chance of success, throw down her 
challenge to the world. * 

The Magyars, too, considering Serbia as a 
standing obstacle and as a "memento-mori" of 
their policy of oppression and magyarization, 
supported wholeheartedly the plan of Germany 
and the ambitions of the Habsburgs. Regardless 
of the consequences and remorseless for the awful 
crime they plotted against European civilization, 
they were ready to sacrifice ten millions of brave 
hearts, merely in order that a clique in a small 
nation, which is by no means a very important 
member in the European community, could uphold 
its sway over millions of other races alien in 
thought and sentiment. Better to make a hell of 
Hungary than to deprive the Magyars of their 
unjustly kept dominant position. 

1 B\ Naumann, Mitteleuropa, Berlin, 1915. 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 29 

In the service of Germany, Austria-Hungary 
was able to draw upon thirty-two millions of Slavs 
and Latins to fight German battles against their 
own consent and interest. With such resources 
Austria-Hungary could not win: her forces were 
routed in Serbia, beaten in Russia and Italy, and 
subsequently were put under the complete com- 
mand of Germany. 

As we cannot for a moment imagine that the 
Central Empires might come out victorious, we 
are to ask what will become of Austria in case of 
a drawn battle or a partial victory of the allies? 
During this war Germany's hold upon her has 
been tightened. The Czechs, a highly civilized 
nation, have been mercilessly persecuted, their 
members of the Vienna Reichsrath imprisoned 
with thousands of other suspected citizens. Gal- 
lows are erected all over their country and are 
taking hundreds of victims. The Czechs pray for 
our victory and contribute to it greatly. The 
Czech regiments surrendered to the Russians and 
the Serbs, and were ruthlessly butchered by brutal 
German officers. 

The Italians, Roumanians, and the Southern 
Slavs did and do the same and suffer equally. 
The latter are looking for deliverance to Serbia, 
and, after having surrendered, take an active part 
in fighting on the side of the Allies. No wonder 
that Austria-Hungary is exhausted, and sacrifices 
as a last resource to the unsatiable Moloch of 
dominion children of sixteen and old men of 
sixty-five years of age. 



30 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Will the Slavs and Latins, returning, meekly 
endure the Germano-Magyar yoke 1 Can Austria- 
Hungary, impoverished and exhausted, manage 
after this war to control all centrifugal forces 
which menaced her with dismemberment before 
it? Italy, Serbia, Roumania will continue to exer- 
cise their attraction upon their kinsmen, and those 
centrifugal tendencies will become greater than 
ever, taking into account that the dynasty, the 
Germans, and the Magyars have done everything 
to embitter the feelings and to provoke resistance. 

After a drawn battle the weakness of Austria- 
Hungary, bankrupt morally and financially, will 
become only more obvious. She will be less able 
than heretofore by herself to resist the pressure, 
and must sink to absolute dependence on Ger- 
many. The existence of Austria-Hungary will 
mean the prolongation of the unsettled conditions 
in central Europe, a permanent danger to peace, 
and as long as she continues, the scheme of the 
Pan-German conquest of Europe will not be aban- 
doned. A new and terrible conflagration will fol- 
low, and, who knows, perhaps with greater 
chances for Germany. 

The same can be said in case of a partial victory 
of the Allies and of a partial satisfaction of the 
national claims of the Italians, Serbs, or Rouma- 
nians. "With renewed fury the Germans and the 
Magyars will fall upon the unhappy nationalities 
in order totally to break their resistance and to 
extirpate the spirit of brooding revolt among 
them. Even the slightest increase in the terri- 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SI 

tories of Serbia and Roumania will so stimulate 
the aspirations of their kinsmen in Austria- 
Hungary that the Hapsburg monarchy will not 
leave a stone unturned in order to harm, ruin, or 
conquer them. Plot, intrigue, immoral treaties, 
instigation of wars in the Balkans are her beloved 
weapons, and Europe will not cease to be menaced 
by new storms from that ever stormy quarter. 

Of course, owing to her inborn weakness, she 
must again be subservient to Germany, or she may 
change the direction and choose another mighty 
protector, and try a new combination, always in 
pursuit of the old aim of oppression. The victims 
may be changed: instead of the Slavs, the Ger- 
mans, the Magyars, and the Latins may now be 
oppressed, but peace and liberties would gain 
nothing by it. Germany, and reactionists in 
Europe may desire Austria to be spared as offer- 
ing them the best opportunity for armed inter- 
vention and conquest ; but can the maintenance of 
Austria-Hungary be in the interest of democratic 
Great Britain, France, and the United States? 

There is no fear that Germany will increase her 
strength by incorporating the purely German 
provinces in Austria. According to official statis- 
tics for 1910 the German-speaking population in 
Austria numbered 9,171,614, but of this Germany 
cannot incorporate more than 7,000,000 inhabiting 
Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Ca- 
rinthia, and Tyrol; as strong German minorities 
must be incorporated with Italy, free Bohemia, and 
Poland. More than two million Germans living 



32 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

in Hungary would remain in the Magyar national 
State or go to Roumania. The military power of 
each of these national independent states would 
more than balance such an increase of Germany. 
But the greatest loss for Germany would consist 
in her losing the command of 32,000,000 Slavs and 
Latins, who are fighting her battles to-day. Still 
jthere are many simple-minded people who believe 
that an Austria-Hungary might be used in a com- 
bination of powers against Germany. These peo- 
ple overlook a simple and obvious truth. The 
German element in Austria-Hungary enjoys to- 
day a predominant position. The Germans out- 
number any other nationality in the empire, they 
occupy the leading place socially, economically, 
and politically. They are Germans to the very 
core of their hearts and no combination in Aus- 
tria-Hungary against the interests and the am- 
bitions of the "Vaterland" is possible. The 
Germans will remain in Austria-Hungary as long 
as they are able to exploit her in the interests 
of Germanism. The day when the Germans will 
no longer have interests in the maintenance of 
Austria-Hungary the Habsburg empire will cease 
to exist. 

Peace in central Europe can be secured in two 
different ways: by German conquest — and it 
would be a peace of graveyards — or by setting 
free the trodden-down nationalities in Austria 
and uniting them with their kinsmen in Italy, Ser- 
bia and Roumania. Such a peace would be the 
peace of democracy, of progress and liberty. The 



THE CASE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 33 

Allies have pledged their word to obtain such a 
peace and the United States entered the war for 
nothing less nor more than "to make the world 
safe for democracy," and have given solemn as- 
surances that the rights of the smaller nations 
shall be recognized. But such a peace cannot be 
achieved without the complete deliverance of dif- 
ferent nationalities in Austria-Hungary, which 
must have for natural consequence the dismember- 
ment of this ramshackle empire, preserved in 
unity by force and intrigue merely in the interest 
of a dynasty. By it, the United States would not 
only redeem her word and do justice to her Allies, 
Italy, Serbia, and Roumania, but would do justice 
to her own interests, as the creation of free in- 
dependent national states will form a strong liv- 
ing wall against any scheme for conquest and 
dominion. 

Now, every citizen in this country expects that 
Bohemia will be resuscitated, that Italy will 
achieve her national unity, that the Hungarian 
provinces inhabited by the Roumanians will be 
incorporated with Roumania, but few are ac- 
quainted with the position which the Southern 
Slavs occupy in the Danubian monarchy. With 
the exception of a few eager and independent 
minds, who have studied the conditions of the 
Southern Slavs on the spot, Vienna and Budapest 
contrived to keep the world in ignorance concern- 
ing them. The erroneous view was generally 
spread that so many provinces in which they 
live contain as many different little nation- 



34 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

alities, quarreling among themselves, for whom 
no sort of civilized life could be thought of with- 
out the Pax Germanica being imposed upon them. 
In the following chapters we intend to expose the 
fallacy of this contention and to show that the 
Southern Slavs, by their past and present, are 
fully entitled to freedom and unity, in full con- 
formity with the principles for whose realization 
throughout the world this great country is com- 
mitted to the war. 1 

1 For a further illustration of our arguments in this chapter we 
think that the following racial statistics of Austria-Hungary may 
be useful. 

Race*. Austria. Hungary. Hewego^a. 

Germans 9,950,266 2,037,435 ...... 

Magyars 10,974 10,050,575 ...... 

Czechc-Slovaks. . 6,435,983 1,967,970 

Poles 4,967,984 

Ruthenians 3,518,854 472,587 

Serbo-Croats.... 783,344 2,939,633 1,898,044 

.Slovenes. 1,252,940 

Latins / Italians 768,422 

I Roumanians 275,115 2,949,032 

Others 608,052 469,255 



Slavs 



Total population 28,571,934 20,886,487 1,898,044 

According to Statesman Year Book 1917, census of 1910. But 
we must remember that the official statistics favor the ruling nations 
— the Germans and the Magyars; as of 1,300,000 Jews in Austria, 
mostly in Vienna, nearly all of them are given as Germans, and 
in Hungary not only all the Jews, numbering 960,000, but every 
other person able to talk a little Magyar, is given as Magyar. 



ni 



THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE SOUTH- 
ERN SLAVS 

THE history of the Serbo-Croat nation and 
its states is a long uninterrupted tragedy, 
as stirring and sincere as all the true and 
great tragedies of life. The tragedy of the Serbo- 
Croat nation consisted in the fact that they were 
placed by historical circumstances in conditions 
adverse to their inborn character, and they are 
obliged, in spite of their pacific dispositions, to 
become a warlike people in order to assure their 
existence and to accomplish their historic mission 
of defending European civilization against bar- 
barous invaders. Thus, since the very first ap- 
pearance of the Serbo-Croat nation upon the 
scene of the world's history, its name has always 
been connected with wars and military deeds, 
which throughout centuries have reechoed from 
the Balkan countries which for the past thirteen 
centuries have been the home of the Southern 
Slav people. No wonder that the idea is deeply 
rooted that the Serbo-Croat race is warlike in 
character and that war and military achievements 
are its favorite activity. This idea is only partly 
true, as the Serbo-Croat nation has been obliged 

85 



36 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to spend centuries of their existence in fighting 
Avars and Bulgars and, later on, their cousins 
the Turks and Magyars, and last, but most dan- 
gerous of all, the modern Huns of Germany. In 
this incessant warfare the Serbo-Croat race has 
acquired a warlike character and displayed fight- 
ing qualities which have found their best applica- 
tion in the last successful resistance to, and com- 
plete rout of, the overwhelming Austro-Hunga- 
rian forces. 

The Serbian army has won a reputation that 
fears no comparison, yet, in spite of the true fight- 
ing qualities amply displayed by the Serbo-Croat 
soldiers, the writer, who has been intimately 
acquainted with them, having followed them 
through the many vicissitudes of the Balkan wars, 
sharing their life and their difficulties, can say 
that by nature the Serbian peasant-soldier is not 
warlike; he cherishes no dreams of conquest or 
aggression. From time to time he would sing 
some of those official war-songs learned in bar- 
racks, but ever as he marched rapidly through 
the fertile fields of Old Serbia and Macedonia, as 
he climbed the steep, snow-clad crests of Albanian 
mountains, or pushed on through narrow gorges 
of rushing rivers, his heart was with his parents 
and children at home, he dreamed only of his 
orchards on the hills of Sumadia, of his maize 
fields in the valley of the Morava. And when his 
heart was filled with homesick longing, he would 
give expression to it by singing his simple village 
song: "Oh, Moravo — dear village of the plains." 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 37 

In the thousands of letters they sent home, these 
soldiers who beat the armies of three military 
states, never mentioned their military achieve- 
ments, but were always interested in the health 
of their dear ones at home, in the prospects of 
the forthcoming harvest, in the condition of their 
cattle, dwelling with special tenderness upon 
questions concerning the cows and young calves 
left at their farms. These letters, perhaps more 
than their victories, bore testimony to the pure 
simplicity of their minds, to the unconscious 
bravery of their hearts, to the noble pity and ten- 
derness that was in their souls. This warlike race 
seems always to have fought against its will. This 
nation, which during long centuries has sung all 
the events of its history, has made no song to 
celebrate the fortunate wars of king Milutin and 
king Zvonimir, or to glorify the victories of the 
tzar Dusan. They have sung the heroes of Kos- 
sovo because they were martyrs ; they have glori- 
fied the "Uskoks" because they were the avengers 
of their race against Turkish and Venetian op- 
pressors. They have never understood a war of 
conquest, as all their wars have been wars of 
strict self-defense, to stem the tide of foreign 
invasion. 

Like all Slav peoples, the Serbo-Croats are 
peaceful and confiding; they look upon war as 
a terrible calamity and are very glad if they can 
escape it ; and this is easily understood. The soul 
and character of the Serbo-Croat nation were 
formed during long centuries of prehistoric life. 



38 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

The old prehistoric home of the Southern Slavs 
was in the woodlands of the Carpathian moun- 
tains and the vast plains of Russia stretching 
from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mingling with 
other Slav tribes, they dwelt there peacefully dur- 
ing long centuries. They had no history, and 
therefore we may presume that they were happy 
and content, ignorant of war and without any 
ambition for conquest. 

The Carpathian woods supplied them with rich 
hunting-grounds; the rivers running north and 
south abounded in fish, and the vast steppes of 
southern Russia, with their rich black soil, were 
a splendid granary then, as they are to-day. They 
lived without history, but it does not imply that 
they lived like savages, without any material civil- 
ization. Far from that, they had long since passed 
from the state of nomadic tribes to the civiliza- 
tion of settled agricultural peoples. They lived in 
large families — Zadruga — just as they live to- 
day; and the Russian Mir — the parish land com- 
mune — probably dates back from those prehis- 
toric days. They possessed a developed religious 
system based upon the worship of natural forces 
and the cult of ancestors. They had formed no 
state, but lived in a friendly alliance of tribes, 
governed by elders, having no slaves nor bond- 
men among them. 

The old Slavic language, with all its richness 
and beauty, which gave birth to the modern Rus- 
sian, Polish, Czech and Serbo-Croat languages, 
was already so highly developed that even to-day, 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 39 

after many centuries of separate political and 
national life, the Slavic languages represent a 
strong and beautiful bond of union among the 
different Slav nations. The gospels were trans- 
lated into the old Slavic language as early as the 
ninth century; also the beautiful hymns of the 
Orthodox Church, which have been so highly ap- 
preciated by so great an artist as Tolstoy, were 
written in the first days of their Christianity. 
The best proof of the intense love of the Slavs 
for their language can be seen in the fact that 
they accepted Christianity only when the gospel 
was preached to them in their own language, and 
as early as the tenth century a fierce fight raged 
among the Roman catholic Serbo-Croats of the 
Dalmatian coast against the introduction of the 
Latin language in their churches. The Slav lan- 
guage is used even to-day in the Roman catholic 
parishes on the islands of the Dalmatian archi- 
pelago, although many over-zealous bishops have 
endeavored to banish it and to replace it by Latin. 
The Slavs were so proud of their language that 
they called every foreigner "nemetz," a mute 
man, which even to-day is the name of Germans 
among all the Slav nations. 

It was these thousands of years of peaceful 
life that molded the Serbo-Croat character. 
The Serbo-Croat is sincere, peaceable, easily 
roused, but also very easily appeased, never 
gloomy, having always something childlike about 
him. These traits are the same even to-day, not- 
withstanding the long centuries of struggle and 



40 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

foreign oppression. The prehistoric home of the 
Serbo-Croat people is always mentioned in na- 
tional folklore with love, and a dim feeling of 
longing, as all of us remember the happy days 
of childhood in our father's house. Neither did 
the Serbo-Croats abandon their old home because 
they were moved by warlike ambitions or by desire 
for conquest. 

Some fifteen centuries ago the old European 
civilization, represented by the Roman empire, 
was passing through a terrible crisis. The Mon- 
golian tribes, Huns and Avars, bursting forth 
from central Asia like a devastating whirlwind, 
overran Europe and drove before them other 
races and tribes. After the Huns had overrun the 
Slav territories and uprooted the Slav tribes from 
their native soil, the Serbo-Croatian tribes, avoid- 
ing a new Mongolian hurricane, abandoned the 
Galician plains and wooded Carpathian ranges 
and appeared on the borders of the Eastern 
Roman empire. At their first appearance on the 
scene of the world's history, destiny assigned to 
the Southern Slavs a part which they have played 
faithfully until now. Their part was a noble one. 
The frontiers of the Byzantine empire were no 
longer respected. Provinces were devastated and 
the panic-stricken inhabitants, fearing death and 
extermination, flocked to the coasts of the Medi- 
terranean. The Balkan peninsula was overrun 
by Goths and Avars ; the Roman settlements were 
nearly annihilated, and the Byzantine emperors 
were anxiously looking for help and assistance 



HISTORY OP THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 41 

from any quarter. Encouraged by previous expe- 
riences with the Slavic tribes, and convinced of 
their loyal and non-aggressive character, they 
arrived at an agreement with the Southern Slav 
tribes and invited them to settle down peacefully 
in the devastated northern and central provinces 
of the Balkan peninsula, on condition that they 
would protect the northern frontier of Byzantium 
from the further devastation and repeated attacks 
of the other less civilized tribes. This happened 
in the seventh century of our era, under the em- 
peror Herakleios, according to the account given 
by the emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos. 
To that part assigned to them — namely, to be the 
guardians and protectors of European civiliza- 
tion, the Serbo-Croat nation has remained faith- 
ful until now. 

The Slavic tribes, all speaking one language, all 
having one and the same standard of life, one 
religion and the same customs, repeopled all the 
western and northern provinces of the Balkan 
peninsula now inhabited by them from the Isonzo 
(Soca) river to the iEgean. They acknowledged 
for centuries the suzerainty of the Roman em- 
perors, and adopted the christian religion, which, 
together with Greek civilization, spread among 
them. By degrees they formed little national 
states, which, as was the case in the whole of 
Europe at that time, were founded on the feudal 
system. That very system, together with the 
civilization of mediaeval ages, was in itself a 
source of weakness. But the weakness coming 



42 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

from the feudal system was increased when, in 
the eleventh century, the Christian Church split in 
two. The western tribes fell under the influence 
of Rome and became Roman catholic ; the eastern 
tribes remained under the influence of Byzantium 
and embraced Greek orthodoxy. The western 
Roman catholics were subsequently grouped 
together under the name of Croats, and the east- 
ern orthodox at the same time formed one or 
more national states under the name of Serbs. In 
the first quarter of the ninth century the South 
Slav tribes for the first time passed from loose 
tribal federation to the higher organization of a 
state. In the beginning of the ninth century the 
Frankish state, penetrating into the basin of the 
Middle Danube, had subjugated Southern Slav 
tribes also. At the hands of the German lords, 
who in the name of Charlemagne ruled the eastern 
parts of the Frankish empire, the Southern Slavs 
suffered every kind of humiliation and exaction. 
The chronicles say that the Slavs were permitted 
to eat only that which remained after the dogs 
of the Frankish lords had fed. They revolted 
under the leadership of the Slavonian prince 
Ludevit Posavski, who formed a mighty Southern 
Slav state which, extending from the upper 
reaches of the Save to the Lower Danube and as 
far as Ljubljana (Laibach) beyond the river 
Timok, united in itself for a short time all the 
Southern Slav tribes, which later on were dif- 
ferentiated under the names of Serbs, Croats and 
Slovenes. Thus their first state was the only pre- 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 43 

cursor of that state which they now hope to form 
after eleven centuries of struggle, partial liberty 
and foreign subjugation. But this first Southern 
Slav state (818-823) soon succumbed to foreign 
foes. The new beginning of their independent 
state life was on the shores of the Adriatic, and 
since the ninth century the growth of the Serbo- 
Croat states has proceeded on normal lines. With 
every advance to the north and east, the Serbo- 
Croat rulers incorporated more people of their 
own race into their national states, liberating 
them from the foreign Byzantine, Frankish, Mag- 
yar or Bulgarian yoke, and, far from being ag- 
gressors or conquerors of alien peoples, they were 
only the upholders of the right of each nation to 
govern itself, and the liberators of their own kins- 
men from an alien domination. The peaceful sen- 
timents and lofty ideals of the Serbo-Croat nation 
have been finely expressed in one of the many 
beautiful epic songs of the Serbian people. 
This song refers to Stephen Nemanja, the 
founder of the dynasty of Nemanja, who is 
known in Serbian history as the ruler who in the 
twelfth century succeeded in uniting many differ- 
ent Serbian provinces under his sway; but this 
union was not accomplished without a series of 
campaigns against minor feudatory princes or 
against the Byzantine empire. In his old days, 
according to the prevailing custom of that age of 
intense religious feeling, he abdicated and retired 
to a monastery under the spiritual guidance of his 
son St. Sava, subsequently the first archbishop of 



44 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the Serbian national church. What the ideals of 
the Serbian people are can fairly be judged from 
the above-mentioned ballad, which the writer has 
translated as follows : 

"Counsel held the mighty christian princes, 
Near the white-walled church of Gracanica 
State they thus, the mighty christian princes 
God, what strange event! What wondrous marvel! 
Where have vanished all the vast possessions 
Towers seven filled with gold and silver, 
Of the great and wealthy tsar Nemanja? 
By chance, Neman j a Sava stood there with them. 
Spake thus to the right christian princes. 
Speak not words like these, oh noble princes. 
Sooth 'twere a sin to speak such words, Sirs. 
Never did my father spend his treasures 
Buying arms and chargers bold for battle, 
Buying lances forged of steel and maces. 
No, my father spent his vast possessions 
Building white abodes for God's high presence. 
Where God 's hymns be sung through all the ages, 
Bringing healing to my father's spirit. 
Up then spake the mighty christian princes, 
Blessed be thy holy father's memory. 
Blessed be thy soul, Neman j a Sava." 

But besides the songs and ballads in which the 
Serbo-Croats have expressed their ideals and 
their general outlook on life, we have the witness 
of foreigners who have depicted the character of 
the Balkan Slavs. Thus the greatest contempo- 
rary historian of the seventh century, Theophi- 
lactes Simocates, the historian of Byzantium dur- 
ing the reign of the emperor Mavricius (582-602), 
says that during a raid against the Slavs already 
established on the banks of the Lower Danube 
the patrols of the emperor returned bringing in 



; HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 45 

some Slav prisoners. They were tall, broad- 
shouldered men, armed only with pipes, and in 
appearance quite harmless and good-natured. 
Being asked who they were, they answered: "We 
are Slavs coming from the far-off sea. We do 
not know steel or arms, we graze our herds, make 
music with our pipes and do not harm any one.'' 
Another historical writer of the eighth century, 
the well-known Paulus Diaconus, relates how his 
grandfather was made prisoner by the Avars in 
Pannonia, but managed to escape and fled through 
Slavonia to Italy. On his journey through the 
forest he found no food and fell exhausted to the 
ground. Fortunately a Slav woman from a neigh- 
boring village found him, and although he, being 
a Longobard, was considered an enemy, she, pity- 
ing his state, took him to her house and kept him 
many days. And when he had recovered his 
strength she led him through the forest and 
showed him his way. It is not without interest 
to note that this Slav village woman had some 
sound knowledge of medicine, as during the first 
days, when he lay utterly exhausted, she gave him 
no solid food but only milk and soups. This was 
more than was known to a contemporary Byzan- 
tine general, who on arriving in Italy gave his 
starving troops solid food, which caused whole- 
sale death in their ranks. Many other races, — 
Ostrogoths, Longobards and Visigoths, — who 
about the same period penetrated into the Roman 
empire, were half-nomadic militarily organized 
tribes, who moved from place to place with their 



46 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

women and children, never showing any willing- 
ness to settle peacefully upon the territory that 
they had conquered. Unlike them, the Slavic 
tribes, who penetrated into the Balkans, had 
already an agricultural, communal organization 
of their own. Being used to the cultivation of the 
soil and the rearing of cattle, they quickly took 
deep root in the newly conquered territories. 
They did not only occupy towns and villages like 
the Longobards in northern and central Italy, but 
they took possession as well of the plains, woody 
hills and high mountains. 

The strength of the Southern Slavs consists in 
the fact that they are so deeply rooted to the soil. 
All foreign invasions and all the misery of long 
centuries of Turkish rule could not dispossess 
them of their hold. For that reason their occupa- 
tion of the Balkan countries is more like coloniza- 
tion than military conquest. But the disadvan- 
tages of their new situation were many. The vast- 
ness of the occupied territories; the sparseness 
of the population, together with the division of the 
country by large tracts of forest and by high 
mountain ranges, hindered them through cen- 
turies from forming stronger bonds of political 
unity. The peaceful character of these agricul- 
tural settlers, who possessed no supreme admin- 
istrative or military organization, contributed 
also to endangering their independence. Fate 
placed them in a most exposed position: on the 
high road connecting the east with the west, or 
rather on the boundary between two worlds, th§ 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 47 

East and the West, in the countries coveted by all 
conquerors from the Romans to William II. 
Therefore it is little wonder that the Southern 
Slavs had a very stormy history, and were the 
prey of many foreign invaders. 

Unfortunately their fight against intruders was 
not always a successful one. Thus the most ex- 
posed northwestern tribes inhabiting the valley 
of the Isonzo (Soca) and the upper reaches of the 
Drave very soon lost their independence and re- 
mained until now incorporated in Austria. The 
more central tribes, under the name of Croats, 
had from the ninth century a national state whose 
frontiers were formed by the Drave in the north, 
the coast of the Adriatic in the south-west and the 
rivers Narenta and Bosnia in the east. But this 
Croatian state under king Zvonimir (1076-1089) 
became involved in the great European wars of 
the Normans against Byzantium and Venice and 
also in the struggle of pope Gregory VII against 
the German emperor Henry IV, out of which it 
came weakened and impoverished. After the death 
of Zvonimir the feudal knights were in open revolt 
against his heir and national dynasty ; this state 
of things afforded an opportunity to the Magyar 
king Vladislav to proclaim his right to the Croa- 
tian throne and by intrigue and force to occupy 
Slavonia (1091) ; his successor Koloman, in 1102, 
exploiting internal strife, imposed himself as the 
king of Croatia and so brought her in copartner- 
ship with Hungary. His successors tried to ex- 
ploit this personal union as a conquest and to 



48 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

treat Croatia like a mere province of Hungary. 
The whole relations of Croatia towards Hungary 
were characterized through centuries by the re- 
sistance of the Croats against such Magyar ten- 
dencies. 

Though Serbia and Croatia did not always co- 
operate, they nevertheless never fought against 
each other, therefore the incorporation of Croatia 
with Hungary was a heavy blow to the Serbian 
states, as now they had to fight a new and power- 
ful enemy. By incorporating Croatia, Hungary 
not only increased her own strength, but was for- 
tified in a position whence the invasion of Serbia 
and Bosnia was most easy, and consequently the 
encroachments and invasions of Hungary in Bos- 
nia and Serbia, became more frequent and vigor- 
ous after that date. 

In spite of all this the Serbian states progressed 
with every year. They acquired and developed 
within their nation all the institutions of contem- 
porary civilization. Little by little, welded in the 
hard school of warfare and resistance, they 
acquired fighting qualities which enabled them to 
stem the tide of foreign invasion and conquest. 
From the twelfth century onwards we find Ser- 
bian rulers married to Byzantine, French, or 
Hungarian princesses, and the Serbian state rose 
high in the esteem and respect of the nations. The 
high standard of their civilization can be judged 
by remaining monuments, churches and monas- 
teries scattered all over their territories. Of 
their mediaeval social institutions let us only men- 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 49 

tion that in the first decades of the fourteenth 
century, in the reign of king Milutin, the system 
of trial by jury was already introduced into Ser- 
bian tribunals, and was later, in 1349, codified by 
his grandson the emperor Stephen Dusan. In 
the fourteenth century the Serbo-Croatian repub- 
lic of Dubrovnik (Ragusa) prohibited the slave 
trade and proclaimed that every slave found on 
its territory would be set at liberty and treated 
like a free man. 

This position of the Southern Slav lands on the 
road between the East and the West exercised dur- 
ing the days of the Neman j a dynasty a beneficent 
influence upon the economic and commercial as 
well as upon the spiritual and social development 
of the Serbian states. We see that in all these 
countries, which through centuries formed the 
dividing line between the East and the West, both 
influences, always contending, made strong im- 
pression upon their political and religious life, 
and sometimes, as in the arts, were most happily 
blended together. Thus Serbian religious archi- 
tecture, still preserved in many beautiful churches, 
represents a variety of the Byzantine art often 
showing the strong influence of the Romanesque. 
Decani and the patriarchal church of Ipek, both 
dating from the first half of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, are the finest specimens of those artistic in- 
fluences blended together in a whole ensemble by 
an artist of no mean merit. Some of the Southern 
Slav architects and master-masons were educated 
in Italy; others perhaps in Constantinople. 



50 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

The same may be said of the Ragusan building 
art and poetry. Here the main influence was 
Italian, but the artist never blindly or slavishly 
followed his model. He was never anxious to pre- 
serve the absolute purity of a style, but leaving 
room for his own personal inspiration, he pro- 
duced works such as the Rector's palace, which 
by their harmony of ensemble and the exquisite- 
ness of original detail may rank among the best 
achievements of the European building art, and 
of which Professor Freeman has said: 

"To our mind this palace really deserves no 
small place in the history of the Romanesque 
art. One or two capitals show that the 
Ragusan architect knew of the actual Renais- 
sance. But it was only in that one detail that 
he went astray. In everything else he started 
from sound principles, and from them vigorously 
developed for himself. And the fruit of his work 
was a building which thoroughly satisfies every 
requirement of criticism, and on which the eye 
gazes with ever-increasing delight, as one of the 
fairest triumphs of human skill within the range 
of the builder's art. 

"But the palace must not be spoken of as if 
it stood altogether alone among the build- 
ings. . . . ,,x 

And the reader must bear in mind that many 
of the finest works of Serbian architecture have 
been ruined by the Turks, and many of the most 

i Edward A. Freeman, Sketches from the Subject and Neighbour 
Lands of Venice. Macmillan & Co. 1881. 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 51 

famous Ragusan churches and palaces were de- 
stroyed by the great earthquake in 1667; but the 
remains still testify to the high standard of cul- 
ture attained by the Southern Slavs before the 
arrival of the Turks. 

"Such buildings as these, now so few, make us 
sigh over the effects of the great earthquake and 
over the treasures of art which it must have 
swallowed up. If Ragusa in her earlier days con- 
tained a series of churches to match her civic 
arcades, she might claim in justly artistic interest 
to stand alongside of Rome, Ravenna, Pisa and 
Lucca. Her churches of the fifteenth century 
must have been worthy to rank with anything 
from the fourth century to the twelfth. . . . 

"In any case the Dalmatian coast may hold 
its head high among the artistic regions of the 
world." 1 

The Serbian state before Kossovo had not only 
grown in size and political influence, but developed 
internally in a steady and harmonious way. 
Pachymeres, a Greek writer who visited Serbia 
about the end of the thirteenth century, praises 
the simplicity and healthy atmosphere of the Ser- 
bian court life. He was received by queen 
Helene, an Angevin princess, surrounded by her 
court ladies — all of them, as well as the queen, 
engaged in some useful work. Near her court 
queen Helene founded and controlled a monastery 

i Freeman 's Sketches from the Subject and Neighbour Lands of 
Venice, p. 258. 



52 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

where were educated the daughters of the Serbian 
noble houses. 

The code of the emperor Dusan proclaimed at 
Skoplje and Seres in 1349-53 — one of the finest 
written monuments of mediaeval Europe — is a 
proof that already in the first half of the four- 
teenth century Serbia was socially and politically 
a well-organized community; and what was more 
important, the seed was good, the blossom was 
fine and promised the best harvest. 

Their social development could be fairly com- 
pared with the most civilized countries in Europe. 
In that respect Pouqueville, who was at Ragusa 
in 1805, describes the social conditions of the peo- 
ple as follows: 

"The peasants were serfs and attached to the 
land and sold with it. But their master could not 
kill them, and if he ill-treated them they could go 
to another. 

"The peasants did not complain of their lot, 
and the men being much better than the laws, the 
state was flourishing. . . . The peasants were 
splendid fellows, but absolutely obedient to their 
masters. It was the ancient respect for a caste, 
which being unmilitary was peaceful and debo- 
nair. There was no secret police, no gendarmes. 
In 1805 the first capital sentence in twenty-five 
years was pronounced; the city went into mourn- 
ing and an executioner had to be sent from 
Turkey." 

An English author, Thomas Watkins, in 1789 
spoke of Ragusa: "They have more learning and 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 53 

less ostentation than any people I know, more 
politeness to each other and less envy. Their 
hospitality to the stranger cannot possibly be ex- 
ceeded ; in short, their general character has in it 
so few defects that I do not hesitate to pronounce 
them (as far as my experience of other people 
will permit me) the wisest, best and happiest of 
states." 

Comparing with Ragusa the Dalmatian coast 
subjugated by Venice he wrote : 

"I discovered that the wretched government of 
Venice had, by sending out their Bernadotti or 
famished nobility to prey upon the inhabitants, 
rendered ineffectual the benefits of nature. What 
a contrast between them and the citizens of 
Ragusa!" 1 

But just when Serbia was rising to the zenith 
of her power a new danger for her and for all 
Christendom emerged from the east. Invited by 
the weak Byzantine emperors the Turks make 
their first appearance in Europe. The emperor 
Dusan of Serbia, with the insight of a great 
statesman, recognized the menace at once, and 
tried by all means at his disposal to stave off the 
danger. He appealed to the pope to nominate him 
commander of all the christian armies against 
the mussulmans. Although he failed to obtain 
the coalition of the other christian states against 
the Turks, he pursued the idea of replacing the 
enfeebled Byzantine empire by a younger, more 

i Thomas Watkins, Travels Through Switzerland to Constanti- 
nople, vol. ii. letter xlii. p. 331. 



54 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

powerful organism, and if he had succeeded in 
doing this he would have proceeded to organize 
the defense of christian Europe against the ap- 
proaching mahomedan tide. Unfortunately tsar 
Dusan died in 1355 before he had time to carry out 
his plans. 

After the death of tsar Dusan Serbia passed 
through a heavy crisis. The shortcomings and 
deficiencies of the feudal system had produced 
the same results in Serbia as in many other states 
in that stage of their social and political develop- 
ment. But whilst the kings of France succeeded 
in subjugating the feudal aristocracy, thanks to 
their alliance with the burghers, the crisis pro- 
voked by the feudal system in Serbia proved fatal 
to her existence, as it occurred simultaneously 
with the appearance of a source of new danger 
from without. Tsar Uros Dusan's young son 
and heir possessed no authority or power to curb 
the mighty feudal princes, who ruled indepen- 
dently in their respective provinces without unity 
or mutual cooperation. King Vukasin of Mace- 
donia and his brother Uglesa were the first to re- 
ceive the Turkish blow. They met the invaders 
on the Maritza in the year 1371, but their army 
was defeated, both perished, and their sons and 
heirs became vassals to the sultan. Soon after 
this the Byzantine empire was reduced to Con- 
stantinople and its environs, and the Turkish tide 
approached the very heart of the Serbian empire. 
The decisive battle was at hand. The Turks, who 
found the Serbs a most stubborn enemy, made 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 55 

overtures, begging them on their side to open them 
the gate of central Europe. The Serbian nation 
and its rulers were sorely tempted. They knew 
that their forces were too small to resist the 
swollen Turkish flood. No help was forthcoming 
from any other quarter. Europe, divided and ter- 
rified, looked mute and motionless upon the un- 
equal struggle. Should the Serbs betray their 
noble mission as the champions of Christendom? 
Should they side with the enemy of their race and 
religion? No and never! But better than by any 
words of mine the description of that supreme 
hour of temptation is given in one of the Serbian 
national songs. There we are told how the Ser- 
bian tsar Lazar received a letter from the Virgin 
Mother asking him which kingdom he preferred, 
the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of the 
Earth. Tsar Lazar and all his nation chose the 
Heavenly Kingdom. Better to perish than to lose 
their honor and to betray the cause for which 
they had stood until then. Then tsar Lazar made 
a supreme effort. He appealed to all the Serbian 
princes to join him at Kossovo in a decisive battle 
against the overbearing Turk. They responded 
to the call, among them being Tvrtko, king of 
Bosnia, and fought one of the most bloody battles 
ever chronicled in human history. Yes, the flower 
of the Serbian aristocracy and manhood perished 
in that fatal battle of Kossovo. All of them, the 
beautiful, brave and bold, went grimly to their 
gory graves. But the Turks sustained a grievous 
blow. How fierce and how important was that 



5$ SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Albanian and Greek. Among all the endless con- 
fusions and fluctuations of power in those regions, 
Ragusa stands alone as having ever kept its place, 
always as separate, commonly as an independent 
commonwealth. It lived on those coasts till the 
day when the elder Bonaparte in mere caprice of 
tyranny without provocation of any kind declared 
one day that the republic of Ragusa had ceased 
to exist." 1 

The Turks inflicted all manner of oppression 
and wrong upon the Serbo-Croat nation. They 
annihilated their states, they devastated their ter- 
ritories, eradicating many noble efforts for a 
higher spiritual culture and civilization. The 
Serbo-Croat aristocracy fell on the battlefields 
or took refuge in foreign countries. Their young 
men were led away as janissaries, and their sisters 
were sold in the slave markets of the East ; their 
mothers were trampled upon by the conquerors ' 
horses and the men slain by thousands and tens 
of thousands. They burnt their castles and 
churches; but they could not kill the national soul 
nor force them to forget the glorious memories 
of the past. Some good sprang out of all this 
evil. The Serbo-Croat refugees from the differ- 
ent provinces were rolled like pebbles before the 
onrush of the Turkish tide. They intermingled 
and consequently were welded into strong national 
unity. The sharing of hardships and common 
miseries did more for their moral unity and for 

iE. A. Freeman, Sketches from Subject and Neighbour Lands 
of Venice, Macmillan & Co. 1881, 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 59 

the formation of a single national consciousness 
than centuries of easy and prosperous life could 
have done. In annihilating the Serbian states 
and aristocracy the Turks annihilated also the 
existing social classes and their privileges, and 
made at least an equality of subjugation. 

Notwithstanding all this, the Serbo-Croat 
nation continued its resistance. First in alliance 
with the Magyars and later on with the Austrians 
or Venetians, Poles or Russians, they availed 
themselves of every opportunity of inflicting 
losses on the Turks or of driving them out of 
their country. 



58 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Albanian and Greek. Among all the endless con- 
fusions and fluctuations of power in those regions, 
Ragusa stands alone as having ever kept its place, 
always as separate, commonly as an independent 
commonwealth. It lived on those coasts till the 
day when the elder Bonaparte in mere caprice of 
tyranny without provocation of any kind declared 
one day that the republic of Ragusa had ceased 
to exist." 1 

The Turks inflicted all manner of oppression 
and wrong upon the Serbo-Croat nation. They 
annihilated their states, they devastated their ter- 
ritories, eradicating many noble efforts for a 
higher spiritual culture and civilization. The 
Serbo-Croat aristocracy fell on the battlefields 
or took refuge in foreign countries. Their young 
men were led away as janissaries, and their sisters 
were sold in the slave markets of the East ; their 
mothers were trampled upon by the conquerors' 
horses and the men slain by thousands and tens 
of thousands. They burnt their castles and 
churches ; but they could not kill the national soul 
nor force them to forget the glorious memories 
of the past. Some good sprang out of all this 
evil. The Serbo-Croat refugees from the differ- 
ent provinces were rolled like pebbles before the 
onrush of the Turkish tide. They intermingled 
and consequently were welded into strong national 
unity. The sharing of hardships and common 
miseries did more for their moral unity and for 

iE. A. Freeman, Sketches from Subject and Neighbour Lands 
of Venice. Macmillan & Co. 1881. 



HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVS 59 

the formation of a single national consciousness 
than centuries of easy and prosperous life could 
have done. In annihilating the Serbian states 
and aristocracy the Turks annihilated also the 
existing social classes and their privileges, and 
made at least an equality of subjugation. 

Notwithstanding all this, the Serbo-Croat 
nation continued its resistance. First in alliance 
with the Magyars and later on with the Austrians 
or Venetians, Poles or Russians, they availed 
themselves of every opportunity of inflicting 
losses on the Turks or of driving them out of 
their country. 



IV 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND THE SOUTHERN 

SLAVS 

WE have seen in the preceding chapter that 
when the independence of the Serbian 
states was completely extinguished, 
owing to the advance of the all-conquering Turk, 
a considerable number of the Southern Slavs 
were already living in Austria and Hungary, at 
that time represented by two separate states. 
In the west the Slovenes had ever since the tenth 
century been incorporated with Austria, and from 
the beginning of the twelfth century Croatia had 
been united with Hungary. After Kossovo great 
masses of the Serbian people were emigrating 
northward, to avoid the new barbarian invasion 
from the East. Thus already about the end of 
the fourteenth century, during the reign of king 
Sigismund, we find Serbs in great numbers in- 
habiting the county of Arad on the river Maros, 
which was governed by Dimitrius, son of the 
Serbian king Vukasin who perished in the battle 
of Maritza (1371). Dimitrius probably emigrated 
thither with great numbers of Serbs from Mace- 
donia who mingled with their kinsfolk who had 
remained in those regions since the great migra- 
tion of the sixth and seventh centuries. 

60 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 61 

With the advance of the Turks and the disap- 
pearance of the independent Serbian states, the 
migration of Serbians to South Hungary in- 
creased enormously. The last of the Serbian des- 
pots — Stephen Lazarevic and George Brankovic 
— acknowledged the suzerainty of the Hungarian 
kings in order to resist the Turks more effectively, 
and became possessed of vast territories in South 
Hungary. Being in need of laborers for the cul- 
tivation of these great possessions they encour- 
aged the immigration of Serbs into these districts, 
where they exercised quite a sovereign power. 
During the reign of king Matthew Corvinus in 
the second half of the fifteenth century, the Ser- 
bian population became predominant in Syrmia 
and South Hungary. In one year alone — in 1480 
— over 60,000 Serbians emigrated thither, and 
king Matthew himself stated in a letter addressed 
to the pope in 1483 that during the last four years 
about 200,000 Serbians had emigrated to his 
realm. The Magyars, who had previously inhab- 
ited these thinly populated provinces, emigrated 
northward, fearing an invasion of the Turks or 
avoiding the neighborhood of the Serbians. 
Therefore since the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, South Hungary with Syrmia, Croatia and 
Slavonia possessed a thoroughly Serbo-Croatian 
character. 

Relying upon the Serbs for the protection of 
his realm, king Matthew in 1471 granted auton- 
omy to the Serbs living in South Hungary and 
nominated George Brankovic 's little son Serbian 



62 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

despot. From that time the importance and num- 
ber of Serbians in Hungary steadily increased, 
so much so that the military power and obliga- 
tions of the Serbian despots were greater than 
those of any other vassal of the Hungarian crown. 
Whereas the great state magnates (officiates ban- 
dieriati, viz., the duke of Transylvania, the ban 
of Croatia, etc.), were in the case of war obliged 
to contribute one bandierium, i. e., 400 horsemen, 
the Serbian despot had to send 1000 horsemen. 
His bandierium was equal to that of the king him- 
self (bandierium regale). 1 

The importance of the Serbian element in Hun- 
gary was specially noticeable after the battle of 
Mohacz, when after the defeat and death of king 
Louis II complete anarchy prevailed in the king- 
dom. Two candidates for the Hungarian throne, 
John Zapolya, duke of Transylvania, and the arch- 
duke Ferdinand of Austria, brother of the em- 
peror Charles V, were contending for the crown. 
For a while the Serbians hesitated to take part 
in that conflict, as some of their nobles and leaders 
thought that they ought to use this opportunity 
to create an independent Serbian state north of 
the Danube and the Save. But the Turkish 
menace, ever present and increasing, together with 
the promises of the archduke's agents, that they 
would be given ample guarantees for their na- 
tional development, induced them to side with 
Ferdinand, thus contributing greatly to his being 

iThe third decree of king Vladislav (Corpus Juris Hungariei, 
£92, 606). 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 63 

able to maintain himself in western Hungary 
against Zapolya. That moment was a somewhat 
decisive one in the creation of the present Austria- 
Hungary and the establishment of the Habsburgs 
upon their Hungarian throne simultaneously with 
their acquiring the crown of Bohemia. 

The position of the Serbian nation was at that 
time peculiar. When the Hungarian kings Mat- 
thew and Vladislav encouraged Serbian immigra- 
tion they granted the Serbs special extensive 
privileges and exempted them from paying tithes 
to the Roman catholic priests; the Serbs settled 
down in one district (the Banat of Temesvar), 
and from the fourteenth century formed a sepa- 
rate politico-administrative province; this, to- 
gether with the imperishable traditions of the past 
glory and greatness of the Serbian empire, kept 
alive the idea of Serbian national independence 
for which the Serbs, notwithstanding many fail- 
ures, were always ready to shed their very best 
blood. 

But even when the Turkish flood had completely 
submerged all the provinces inhabited by Serbs, 
the idea of their national unity and independence 
was in some ways strengthened. The great vizier 
Sokolovic, who was a Serbian by birth, reestab- 
lished the Serbian national church in 1557, and 
nominated his own brother, the pious monk Maka- 
rius, as its patriarch with his seat at Ipek (Pec). 
This church, looking upon itself as the direct heir 
of the Serbian kings, tsars and despots, took the 
entire Serbian population under its spiritual 



64 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

guidance in the Balkans as well as to the north 
of the Save and the Danube ; whereas all other 
orthodox churches in Greece, Bulgaria and Rou- 
mania came under the jurisdiction of the patri- 
archate at Constantinople. 

No wonder that when Hungary was exhausted 
in the internecine struggles raging for the posses- 
sion of the crown, the defense of the realm fell 
mainly upon the Serbs and Croats. And when the 
Turks in 1552 succeeded in conquering the Banat 
of Temesvar and Slavonia, a Serbian insurrection 
broke out already at the end of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. In order to achieve lasting results the Serbs 
looked for an alliance with the Magyars and ap- 
pealed to Sigismund Batory, duke of Transyl- 
vania, for assistance, offering him the title of 
Serbian despot, or king of Rascia — as the me- 
diaeval authors called Serbia — on condition that 
he sent them help. 

The Magyars delayed with their assistance, and 
the rising tide of the Turks not only overcame the 
Serbian resistance, but conquered almost the 
whole of Hungary, and occupied Budapest. 

The peace of Vasvar, concluded in 1664 between 
Austria and Turkey, was of short duration. A 
new storm was at hand, and indeed we see that 
the energetic grand vizier Kara-Mustafa soon oc- 
cupied the few Hungarian provinces remaining 
under Hapsburg rule, and in 1683 besieged 
Vienna. Thanks to the timely assistance of Po- 
land, the Turks were beaten and Austria was 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 65 

saved. Once more the Austrian emperor, Leo- 
pold I, looked to the Serbs for further successes 
against the Turks. He made use of a Serbian 
noble, George Brankovic, the scion of an old 
princely family, to organize a Serbian insurrec- 
tion and to supply the imperial armies with as 
many Serbian volunteers as possible. By a special 
patent George Brankovic was granted the title of 
Hungarian baron and in 1683 acknowledged 
hereditary prince of Hercegovina, Syrmia and the 
Banat of Temesvar. Soon afterwards Buda, the 
old capital of the Hungarian kings, was recovered 
from the Turks and the Austrian successes were 
vigorously pursued. 

After a brief respite the court of Vienna re- 
sumed its preparations for a new and decisive 
war against Turkey. The exhaustion of the impe- 
rial finances notwithstanding, the court circles of 
Vienna planned an extensive scheme : the conquest 
of Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Valla- 
chia, and to crown the Hungarian king Joseph I, 
the son of the emperor Leopold I, as king of 
Romania, as all those lands were to be called. 
Of course the courage, gallantry and natural in- 
clination of the Serbians were taken into first 
account. Vienna again applied to George Bran- 
kovic. In 1688 the latter submitted to the court 
of Vienna a scheme for the creation of a semi- 
independent Serbian principality in the Banat, 
Syrmia, Slavonia and all other Servian countries 
in the Balkans beyond the Save and the Danube, 
together with the demand that Vienna should 



66 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

acknowledge him as despot and hereditary prince 
of these provinces. Being in sore straits and pur- 
suing its own aims, Vienna apparently approved 
and accepted Brankovic 's scheme. The emperor 
Leopold wished to exploit the over-confidence of 
Brankovic, having already made up his mind to 
rid himself of him at the first opportunity. And 
this is how it was done. Animated by fresh hopes 
for the realization of their national idea, the Serbs 
largely swelled the ranks of the imperial forces, 
and their insurrection in the rear of the Turkish 
forces by threatening their communications made 
the Turkish position untenable. Thanks to this 
the Austrian army conquered Bosnia and Serbia 
and penetrated as far as Prizren and Skoplje. 

Having temporarily obtained the desired re- 
sults, the Vienna court circles now turned to their 
preconceived plan of getting rid of Brankovic and 
Serbian autonomy. He was arrested on a charge 
of high treason at Kladovo in 1689 and trans- 
ferred first to Vienna and subsequently to Eger 
in Bohemia, where he languished Until 1711, as 
a state prisoner, never tried nor condemned by 
any court of the realm. To all the questions of 
Serbian representatives concerning his imprison- 
ment the Vienna cabinet answered: "Nihil male 
fecit, sed ratio rei publicce expostulavit." Such 
was the gratitude and loyalty of German Haps- 
burg princes. 

It seemed that a curse lay upon the new Aus- 
trian acquisitions. The Turks were reinforced 
and began to press hard upon the Austrian 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 67 

armies. The emperor Leopold fully realized the 
value of his Serbian provinces. With Bosnia and 
Serbia in his hands he was able to defend his 
newly acquired kingdom of Hungary more effec- 
tively; therefore once more he appealed to the 
Serbs and to their patriarch Arsenius Carnoevic 
to render him effective assistance against the 
Turks by a new insurrection in arms. This time 
the emperor promised them the free election of a 
national duke (Vojvoda), religious liberty and ex- 
emption from all taxes and imposts. 

The Austrian armies were in retreat, great 
numbers of Serbs fighting as volunteers on their 
side. And the Serbian population and dignitaries 
of the church, greatly compromised in the eyes 
of the Turks by the assistance given to Austria 
in the former fighting, were also retreating in 
great masses before the hostile armies. The em- 
peror's invitation reached them at Belgrade, 
when already all Serbian provinces in the Balkans 
were occupied by the Turks. Under the Turkish 
dominion the Serbian church enjoyed many privi- 
leges, and the patriarch, besides the right of ap- 
pointing new bishops and of judging matrimonial 
cases, had extended his jurisdiction in all civil 
and hereditary matters. Thus, under the Turks 
he was recognized as chief of the whole Serbian 
people. No wonder that both patriarch and 
bishops wished to see the rights of the Serbian 
church better defined and secured before commit- 
ting themselves to a new policy. Therefore in a 
national assembly they formulated their condi- 



68 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

tions and instructed the bishop of the Banat of 
Temesvar to demand the emperor's recognition 
of Serbian church autonomy and the jurisdiction 
of the patriarch in all matters in which it had been 
hitherto recognized by the Turks, before they 
would emigrate with their people to Austria. 

The emperor Leopold I promptly agreed to all 
the Serbian demands, put forward by them as a 
free nation negotiating with the Austrian emperor 
and the king of Hungary. In proceeding thus the 
emperor Leopold I was following the procedure 
of the former Hungarian kings, as when Bela IV 
granted to Yasigues and Koumans not only privi- 
leges, but also a special strip of territory in Hun- 
gary with an administrative autonomy and a na- 
tional leader. The Saxons in Hungary likewise 
had their own territory with an autonomous ad- 
ministration. 

Of course the extended privileges granted to 
the Serbian church and nation were not much to 
the taste of the Roman catholic church dignitaries 
and the Hungarian aristocracy who tried to limit 
and frustrate them. After some delay and bar- 
gaining in the negotiations, the famous privileges 
forming the legal basis of the Serbian autonomy 
in Hungary were issued by the Austrian court 
chancellery on the 21st of August, 1690. How- 
ever, at the instigation of the Roman catholic 
cardinal Kolonitch, a clause was inserted that 
those privileges were in force only as long as 
the Serbs " collectively and individually remain 
faithful to us" (et quantemus et quamdiu nobis 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 69 

universi et singuli fideles et devoti erunt). And 
this last clause has always proved a mighty 
weapon to suspend or simply to annul all the au- 
tonomous privileges of the Serbian people when- 
ever the tortuous ways of Austria's policy de- 
manded that Serbian rights and privileges should 
be sacrificed for the promotion of some other 
dynastic, German, or Magyar interests. 

The privileges granted were never put in force. 
In vain the Serbs demanded a special territory 
in which to settle down, there to be administered 
by their Vojvoda and national leaders; that de- 
mand was never fulfilled. On the contrary, 
iVienna promoted a scheme for the German colon- 
ization of Hungary and Slavonia. The Serbs were 
used to form the military frontier (the celebrated 
granica) against Turkey in the Banat of Temes- 
var, Slavonia and Syrmia, without ever having 
their position towards the Hungarian state and 
crown regulated. As soon as the war danger was 
no longer imminent, the Serbian merits were for- 
gotten and all means were employed to break up 
the compact masses of the Serbian population. 
Part of the Serbs were put under the direct ad- 
ministration of the Crown War Council and the 
Court Chancellery in Vienna, while the remaining 
part was brought under the jurisdiction of the 
Hungarian magnates. 

Owing to the prolonged wars and the despotic 
regime strictly applied to all Austrian provinces, 
dissatisfaction became general and an armed rev- 
olution broke out in Hungary, just at the moment 



70 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

when Austria was engaged in a new war with 
France over the Spanish succession. The Hun- 
garian leader, Rakoczy II, invited the Serbians to 
side with him. But the old and experienced patri- 
arch Carnoevic remained faithful to the Habs- 
burgs, placing all the Serbian forces at the dis- 
posal of the dynasty. With special fury the 
Magyars turned against the Serbians, who in this 
revolution lost about 100,000 men, but contributed 
effectively to the final victory of the imperial 
army. The Serbian merits were recognized by a 
fresh confirmation of their privileges in 1706 by 
the emperov Joseph I, the son and successor of 
Leopold I. 

But all this was quickly forgotten, and in 1713 
the emperor Charles VI tried to limit the privi- 
leges greatly. But they were again confirmed by 
him in 1715 on the eve of a fresh war against 
Turkey which broke out in 1716. 

When the Austrian empress Maria Theresa, at 
the very outset of her reign, encountered the open 
hostility of Prussia, France and Bavaria, she en- 
deavored to reconcile the Magyars by sacrificing 
the Serbs and restricting all privileges of the 
latter in favor of the former. Even that was not 
all. Instigated by her Jesuit advisers she initiated 
throughout Austria a policy of forcible propa- 
ganda of Roman Catholicism among the orthodox 
population. Many Serbs, losing all hope that 
their position would ever be improved in Austria, 
having so many times shed their blood in vain in 
protecting the Habsburg throne and extending 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 71 

Austria's frontiers, once more went into exile 
and sought a new home in Russia. Thus in 1751- 
53 some hundreds of thousands of Serbs left 
south Hungary, depriving Austria of so many of 
her best soldiers and workmen. AJarmed by the 
magnitude of the Serbian exodus, the court circles 
attempted to stop it by the creation of a special 
Illyrian Court Commission for the protection of 
Serbian interests, but only in religious and spirit- 
ual matters (in religiosis et spiritualibus). As 
was to be expected, this new institution — which 
was abolished in 1777 — did little or nothing for 
the promotion of Serbian interests or for the re- 
dress of their grievances, or the removal of 
wrongs, which were growing in number and inten- 
sity. In spite of all, the Serbians remained most 
faithful and loyal defenders of the Habsburgs, 
as has been recognized by many Austrian states- 
men and historical writers. The Serbo-Croatian 
"grenzers" (frontier guards) formed nearly the 
half of the entire Austrian forces engaged in the 
Seven Years' War (1756-63) against Frederick 
the Great. This fact shows clearly enough the 
value of the Serbo-Croats to the Hapsburg throne 
and dynasty. 

Not only was Serbo-Croatian blood shed on the 
battlefields of the Austrians in Europe, but the 
Viennese court was very clever in exploiting the 
Serbs in its fight against internal foes. 

The reforms of Joseph II, which aimed at the 
centralization and germanization of all lands in- 
cluded in Austria and Hungary, not only roused 



72 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

bitter opposition in Hungary, but awakened a 
strong feeling of nationality among the Magyars, 
who in their turn tried to make of Hungary a 
state of one language and one nation only. The 
ill-fated Turkish campaign of 1790, which lingered 
on for some time, and the menace of Prussia, 
when king Friedrich Wilhelm II began to arm 
against Austria, greatly encouraged the Magyar 
opposition, in deference to which the reforms of 
Joseph II were abolished; but the Hungarian 
nobles demanded greater guarantees for the inde- 
pendence of Hungary and new privileges for 
themselves. As the national existence of the Ser- 
bians was threatened by exaggerated chauvin- 
istic Magyar demands, the Serbs were greatly 
agitated and, incited by Vienna, were ready to 
fight against the Magyars. In order to bring 
pressure to bear upon the Magyars, the Vienna 
cabinet opened negotiations with the Serbs con- 
cerning their national grievances. The old Ser- 
bian demand to have a special territory with a 
national autonomous administration accorded to 
them was again put forward, together with the 
petition that the emperor's youngest son Alex- 
ander should be installed as Serbian despot. Of 
course Vienna agreed to the Serbian demands, 
and the emperor Leopold II in a special letter 
promised that the wishes of the Serbians would 
be soon realized, although he evidently did not for 
a moment sincerely and seriously think of keeping 
his word. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 73 

The Hungarian parliament, being informed of 
the dealings of Vienna with the Serbians, showed 
itself meek and conciliatory. In the ensuing ne- 
gotiations with the Magyars, Vienna scored an 
important victory, and Serbian interests were 
sacrificed to the Magyars. The Serbians were 
now placed on an equal footing with all other sub- 
jects of Hungary by the abolition of all previously 
granted privileges. But with the secret design 
of again using the Serbs, against future Magyar 
opposition, the emperor reserved to himself the 
right of deciding in all matters touching the Ser- 
bian church, religion, education, and such privi- 
leges as are not opposed to the fundamental laws 
of the realm (quaB fundamentali regni constitu- 
tion! non adversantur) . 

Thus the Serbians entered upon the nineteenth 
century full of misgivings lest their desire for 
national autonomy in Austria would never be 
realized. Nevertheless that wonderful century 
which recreated Italy and resuscitated Bohemia 
worked for them also. 

The nineteenth century was characterized by 
the awakening of national feeling throughout 
Europe. The principle of nationality was recog- 
nized as a new force and a new basis for the poli- 
tics of the European states. We have seen that, 
thanks to the imperishable Serbian historical tra- 
dition, the Serbs never lacked that feeling and 
that their whole policy was directed towards the 
achievement of national autonomy upon a sepa- 
rate territory in Hungary. But the Croats— the 



74 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Roman catholic branch of their race — were sunk 
in apathy and looked indifferently enough upon 
the Serbian demands for national organization 
and territory. 

But the nineteenth century brought a very re- 
markable change in the mutual position of 'the 
Serbs and the Croats and in their relations to 
the Magyars. Even as the germanizing policy of 
Joseph II had awakened the national feelings of 
the Magyars, so the chauvinistic policy of the 
Magyars in imposing the Magyar tongue as the 
official language in Croatia, and striving to mag- 
yarize all other nationalities in Hungary by force, 
awakened the national feeling of the Croats and 
was instrumental in relegating the religious dif- 
ferences between the Serbs and the Croats into 
the background and in bringing about coopera- 
tion between them for the defense and promotion 
of their national interests in Hungary. 

But yet another event which took place at the 
beginning of the nineteenth century was destined 
to exercise a strong influence upon the future. 

Napoleon, whose brilliant career wrought so 
many changes in Europe, also exercised a pro- 
found impression upon the future destiny of the 
Southern Slavs. After having conquered Dal- 
matia, and deprived Austria of Istria, Goritzia, 
Carinthia and Carniola, together with part of 
Croatia, he united all these provinces on the basis 
of their ethnographic coherence in the one king- 
dom of Ulyria with its capital at Ljubljana. This 
kingdom of Illyria was the first purely Southern 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 75 

Slav state since the ninth century in which all 
three branches of the race — Serbs, Croats and 
Slovenes — were united under one administration. 
Notwithstanding its short life this state awoke 
high hopes for their ultimate unification, and has 
ever since remained the ideal of the Southern Slav 
patriots. Later on in the thirties of last century 
the Croatian patriot Ludevit Gaj, in his desire 
to give a common form to the new national move- 
ment amongst the Southern Slavs, proposed that 
all Southern Slavs should discard their provincial 
names of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and adopt 
the common name of Illyrians, because their coun- 
try was called Illyria in Roman and Byzantine 
times and because the Serbs were commonly re- 
ferred to as " Illyrians' ' in Vienna. He also ad- 
vocated the discontinuance of the use of local dia- 
lects in literature and the adoption of the idiom 
spoken by great numbers of the Serbo-Croat peo- 
ple in Dalmatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia and 
South Hungary, as the official and literary lan- 
guage of the nation. The Croats, without excep- 
tion, adopted this suggestion and since that time 
their literary language has been the same as that 
of the Serbs. Gaj 's task was rendered compara- 
tively easy by the fact that the works of Vuk 
Karadjic, the father of the new Serbian literature, 
had already exemplified all the beauty and rich- 
ness of this Slav idiom, and that the Serbian na- 
tional songs and ballads collected and published 
by Vuk Karadjic had evoked the admiration of 
Europe and won a high place beside the greatest 



76 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

achievements of the literary and artistic genius 
of the European race. 

In the meantime the Serbs in Turkey, utterly 
disappointed in their hope of seeing their liber- 
ation brought about by cooperation with the 
forces of Austria, and convinced that Austria, 
whilst using them as catspaw in her wars with 
Turkey, was quite indifferent to their national 
welfare and looked only for the aggrandizement 
of the Hapsburg dominions, resolved to work out 
their own destiny for themselves. They took the 
first opportunity that presented itself, and in 1804 
began their first successful insurrection under 
the leadership of Karageorge. During nine years 
of incessant fighting the Serbs succeeded in clear- 
ing out the Turks from a portion of their territory 
and in organizing a national state to carry on the 
traditions of the Serbian empire of the Nemanja 
dynasty. Passing beyond the frontier of the vila- 
yet of Belgrade they penetrated into Old Serbia, 
pushed energetically forward towards Monte- 
negro and made plans for the liberation of Bos- 
nia. But in 1813 the Turks, having made peace 
with Russia in 1812, sent all their available forces 
against Serbia, which was crushed after the most 
sanguinary fighting and the splendid self-sacrifice 
of her sons. But the Turkish triumph was only 
of very short duration. The Serbs proved worthy 
of their ancestors and nothing could quench their 
desire for freedom nor subdue them for any 
length of time. In 1815 they rose again and this 
time achieved lasting results. The Serbian state 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 77 

was now recognized as a vassal principality of the 
Turkish empire. s 

It must be mentioned that the new Serbian 
state was not the result of the bravery, self-sacri- 
fice and wisdom of the Serbs dwelling within its 
frontiers alone. On the contrary, Serbs from all 
over the world took part in its creation. The 
ranks of Karageorge's army were swelled by 
Serbs from Macedonia, Old Serbia, Bosnia, 
Hercegovina and Austria. The patriotic Serbians 
of South Hungary at great risk smuggled arms 
and ammunition to the Serbian insurrectionists 
and the educated Serbs of other countries has- 
tened to Serbia to assist in her political and eco- 
nomic organization and development. Fortunately 
Austria, whose entire energy was engaged in the 
Napoleonic wars and subsequently in suppressing 
every liberal movement in Europe, was little in- 
terested in the creation of a new Serbian state 
or felt unable to hinder it; she therefore left 
Serbia alone to make her way — painfully and 
slowly, but surely — towards progress and recog- 
nition. 

It was during the period of reaction and strict 
surveillance of Metternich's rule that the Roman 
catholic branch of the Serbo-Croat nation was 
awakened to new national life and consciousness. 

But although the national feelings of the Croa- 
tians had slumbered, it cannot be said that they 
were ever extinguished. Though united with 
Hungary, Croatia enjoyed a special status and 
considered herself always as a separate commu- 



78 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

nity linked only by a personal union with Hun- 
gary. And whenever Austria or Hungary at- 
tempted to denationalize Croatia or to reduce her 
to the level of a mere province of Austria, the 
national feelings proved very much alive and 
prompted the Croatians to resist. Several at- 
tempts had even been made at various times by 
Croatian nobles and patriots to render Croatia 
completely independent. Thus when Vienna in 
the middle of the seventeenth century attempted 
the forcible centralization of Austria, the uni- 
versal dissatisfaction in Croatia found expression 
in a plot of the Croatian nobles, Zrinski and 
Frankopan, who schemed the complete indepen- 
dence of Croatia. Their plan, however, was frus- 
trated by the vigilance of Vienna, and both were 
beheaded in Vienna in 1671. Henceforward 
Croatia was ruled directly from Vienna as a mere 
Austrian crown-land. But the memory of Zrinski 
and Frankopan lived for ever in the hearts of 
their compatriots, who venerated them as heroes 
and martyrs for national freedom and indepen- 
dence. 

As long as the Latin tongue was the official 
language of the whole kingdom of Hungary the 
Croats, being faithful children of the Roman 
catholic church, had little reason to complain. 
But the giermanizing tendency of the emperor 
Joseph II, which awakened the national feelings 
of the Magyars, also exercised a strong influence 
upon the slumbering feelings of the Croats. The 
Magyars were always of the opinion that the right 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 79 

to national independence and development, which 
they claimed so strongly themselves, could never 
be shared by the other races of Hungary. The 
first acts of their independence have always been 
the forcible magyarization of the Serbo-Croats, 
Roumanians and Slovaks, and the refusal of their 
national demands. This spirit of national intol- 
erance of the Magyars towards other races is 
greatly and directly responsible for the terrible 
crisis into which Europe has been plunged in our 
own day. 

Thus at the time of the Magyar assembly, held 
at Pressburg in 1825 under the influence of young 
Kossuth and count Szechenyi, when the Magyars 
insistently demanded the introduction of their 
native tongue as the official language in Hungary, 
the national feeling of the Croats were already 
strongly aroused. The Serbs, as we have seen, 
had never for a moment lost their national con- 
sciousness or forgotten the glorious memories of 
a great past. 

The stream of orthodox Serb immigration 
which had flowed into Croatia ever since the four- 
teenth century, when the Balkan provinces were 
occupied by the Turks, had greatly strengthened 
the national element, and by mingling with the 
Roman catholics had smoothed away the existing 
provincial differences between Serbs and Croats. 
By the bond of a common destiny, and the stress 
of much fighting side by side on countless Euro- 
pean battlefields in brotherly union, these religi- 
ous differences were sunk in a single national con- 



80 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

sciousness and a strong feeling of national 
unity. 

In 1839 Vienna, fearing outside complications, 
tried to reconcile the Magyars by granting the 
introduction of the Magyar language in all de- 
partments of the Hungarian administration ex- 
cepting the army. Intoxicated by this national 
success, the Magyars attempted to detach from 
the kingdom of Croatia, Syrmia and Slavonia, and 
to incorporate them completely with Hungary, 
on the strength of the argument that these prov- 
inces were already occupied by Hungary when the 
union of Croatia and Hungary was effected in 
1102 ; their assembly of 1843-44 abolished the old- 
established prerogative of the Serbian church au- 
tonomy, and decided upon the introduction of 
Magyar as the official language in the adminis- 
tration of the Serbian church. Painfully im- 
pressed and greatly alarmed the Serbs sent a 
deputation to try and effect an understanding be- 
tween them and the Magyars, but the latter re- 
fused to listen to their grievances and Kossuth 
stated in the Magyar assembly at Pressburg in 
1847 that in the crown-lands of St. Stephen he 
recognizes no other nation but the Magyars. 

In the meantime conditions in Austria had been 
going rapidly from bad to worse. The Magyars 
threatened to break out in open revolt, and Ra- 
detzky from Milan was imploring for more troops, 
as he could not answer for Lombardy, where na- 
tional feeling was running as high as ever, and 
Piedmont was preparing an attack upon Austria. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 81 

Zagreb in Croatia hailed the events of March, 
1848, as the prelude to a constitution, and the fall 
of Metternich with rejoicing. A national commit- 
tee was formed under Gaj and Kukulevie, who 
drew up a petition to the king demanding consti- 
tutional rights for Croatia. 

In this last turn of events, Vienna saw a pos- 
sible road to peace and salvation. Somebody 
pointed out to the court that the office of the ban 
of Croatia might be a most important one, and 
that if it were in the right hands, Hungary might 
be kept in check by Croatia. The hint was at once 
accepted by the court, as Austrian diplomacy 
always prided itself on its skill in playing off 
one party against another. 

To be able to rely absolutely upon Croatia, 
Vienna looked for a ban loyal to the Austrian 
crown and acceptable to the national party in 
Croatia, yet at the same time capable and trust- 
worthy. The man who satisfied all these require- 
ments was baron Joseph Jelacic, a soldier of high 
distinction in the Austrian army and colonel of 
the 1st frontier regiment. 

Then came the fateful year of 1848. The 
French February revolution filled all the nation- 
alities in Austria with new hopes and enthusiasm. 
Metternich and his system were swept aside and 
the "constitution" which was considered a 
panacea for all the evils and miseries under which 
the Austrian nationalities labored dawned upon 
them at last. The Serbs also firmly believed that 
a new and a happier era was setting in and they 



82 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

at once attempted to come to a friendly under- 
standing with the Magyars. 

The Serbs, in acknowledging the unity and 
integrity of Hungary, demanded only the equality 
of civil and political rights with safeguards for 
their national individuality. But Kossuth, who 
since April, 1848, had already been a member of 
the Hungarian government, bluntly refused to 
consider their demands and said that the sword 
would decide their differences. Deeply offended 
by the haughty and overbearing behavior of the 
Magyars, the Serbs turned again to their old idea 
of a separate territory with national autonomy. 
Founding their claims on the legal enactments of 
king Matthew and king Vladislav, as well as upon 
the privileges of 1690 and 1691, they at their na- 
tional assembly in 1848, at Karlovci, formulated 
the demand for a Serbian duchy which should in- 
clude the Banat of Temesvar, Backa, Baranya 
and Syrmia. Only now the Serbs worked in close 
agreement with the Croats and proposed that the 
Serbian vojvoda should be elected by the deputies 
of the Croatian diet at Zagreb, whose president 
should be the ban of Croatia and whose vice- 
president the Serbian vojvoda. In June, 1848, 
the Croatian diet approved and accepted all these 
demands of the Serbian national assembly, "as 
their own, and therefore they will support them 
before the crown and everywhere else and heartily 
work for their realization." 

This unity of the Serbo-Croats was manifested 
outwardly on many important occasions. At the 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 83 

installation of the new ban of Croatia, even the 
Serbo-Croats of Turkey sent an envoy asking 
for an invitation to the ceremony, which had not 
taken place for several centuries. Deputations 
arrived from Carniola, Styria and Carinthia — 
exemplifying the solidarity of the Slovenes — and 
also from other Southern Slav countries. To 
show the complete harmony which now existed 
between the orthodox Serbs and the catholic 
Croats it was decided that the Serbian patriarch, 
Joseph Rajacic, should install the ban and admin- 
ister the oath. The ceremony of the installation 
took place in the Roman catholic cathedral at Za- 
greb, but the mass was read in old Slav tongue 
instead of in Latin, and afterwards all the digni- 
taries, with the ban and the patriarch, proceeded 
to the orthodox church, where a Te Deum was 
sung in token of national unity and rejoicing. * 

In the meantime war broke out in Italy, and 
Great Britain was ready with a scheme for a pro- 
posed reconciliation. The terms were not at all 
to Vienna's liking, but in the end Austria pre- 
pared to yield and marshal Radetzky received 
orders to open peace negotiations. He refused to 
comply, and threatened to resign, as he did not 
despair of victory, if only Vienna would give him 
time to win. But he privately exposed to prince 
Schwarzenberg the weak points of the military 
situation. He placed his chief reliance on the 
Serbo-Croatian troops, as all his best soldiers 

i M. Hartley, The Man who Saved Austria, Mills & Boon, Ltd., 
London. 



84. SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

were drawn from the military frontier. But these 
troops were becoming nervous and restless on 
account of the tidings from home, as every hour 
might bring the news of the outbreak of hostilities 
between the Magyars and the Southern Slavs. It 
was necessary to reassure them as quickly as pos- 
sible, as at any moment they might desert from 
the Italian battlefields and hasten back to South 
Hungary, for the protection of their homes and 
their country against a possible Magyar attack. 
Vienna, therefore, decided to exploit the loyalty 
and authority of the new ban of Croatia. Baron 
Jelacic was invited to Innsbruck, where the Aus- 
trian court was residing at the time. He was re- 
ceived with almost royal honors. But all his 
endeavors to secure some advantages for his 
people and country were in vain, although he 
pleaded before the court with all the passion of 
a soldier, and the conviction of an honest expe- 
rienced man, true to his king and his people. 
Vienna pursued its own plan and never went fur- 
ther than empty marks of personal honor for 
Jelacic and evasive promises that the long stand- 
ing grievances of the Serbo-Croats should be re- 
dressed. But Jelacic was asked a service, he 
being the only man who could reassure the Serbo- 
Croat troops in Italy and inspire them with un- 
swerving fidelity to the Austrian crown. Straight- 
forward and unsuspecting as a soldier, ban Jelacic 
without hesitation left his proclamation to the 
Serbo-Croat troops in Italy — which served the 
purpose and interest of the crown perfectly — in 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 85 

the hands of the court officials at Innsbruck, on 
June 20th, 1848. 

But as he rode back from Innsbruck to Zagreb, 
and while stopping at a wayside inn in Lientz, 
ban Jelacic was not a little amazed at finding at 
the inn, whilst changing the horses, that the official 
Vienna Gazette of the 19th of June contained an 
imperial rescript in which the king gave orders 
from his town of Innsbruck and dated on the 10th 
of June that Croatia and Slavonia should return 
to their allegiance, repent of their illegal acts, 
acknowledge baron Habrovski, sent from Buda- 
pest as royal commissioner, and disavow Jelacic, 
who, for disobedience to the king's orders, was 
deprived of all his honors as ban and general. 1 
Only the court and cabinet of Vienna were capa- 
ble of such an act of mean treachery and vile 
bureaucratic plotting. The Vienna court deemed 
this insult to the Southern Slavs and their ban 
necessary to reconcile the Magyars; but nothing 
availed. 

Events refused to be governed by the petty in- 
trigues of Austrian courtiers. The Magyars re- 
volted against Vienna and fell with special fury 
upon the prosperous Serbian villages in the Banat 
of Temesvar and Backa. The ruins of thousands 
of their houses and the blood of their sons were 
a new price of their loyalty and fidelity to the 
Hapsburg throne. 

In their struggle against the Magyar oligarchy 

i M. Hartley, The Man who Saved Austria, Mills & Boon, Ltd., 
London. 



86 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the Serbs of south Hungary fought not only in 
brotherly union with the Croats, but a strong 
contingent of volunteers from Serbia under gen- 
eral Knicanin crossed the Danube and helped 
Austria to subdue the revolution. This aid from 
Serbia was prompted by the simple, unsophisti- 
cated feeling of a national unity so strong that, 
in spite of political estrangement, Serbia took part 
in the fight on the side of Austria, in order to save 
Serbian communities from ruin and devastation, 
though it was to her interest that Austria should 
be defeated and humiliated. But this is also a 
fresh and obvious proof that everywhere the Ser- 
bians hoped to find in Austria just protection and 
fair chance for national progress and develop- 
ment. Far from hatching aggressive designs they 
willingly shed their blood for her preservation 
and integrity and were in return repaid by sheer 
ingratitude and persecution. 

The Magyar revolution was quenched in blood 
and the old Serbian privileges were confirmed 
once more, only to be again suspended when 
Vienna was not in urgent need of Serbian courage 
and loyalty. The Serbian metropolitan was 
raised to the old rank of patriarch and the election 
of colonel Stephen Suplikac as Serbian vojvoda 
was confirmed. The Serbian Vojvodina was cre- 
ated out of the Banat of Temesvar, Backa and 
Syrmia, but its administration was placed in the 
hands of Germans, and German was its official 
language. Vojvoda Suplikac died in the same year 
and a new one was never nominated. The em- 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 87 

peror of Austria assumed the title of the Serbian 
vojvoda, and of course the empty title could not 
satisfy the Serbians, who felt that they had been 
once more deceived by Vienna, and the demand 
for national autonomy was stifled by a new period 
of blind absolutism and exclusive German cen- 
tralization. 

When, in 1859, Austria lost Lombardy by the 
Italian war the path of absolutism and centrali- 
zation was abandoned and the Austrian nation- 
alities were promised more freedom. Always 
considering the Magyars more dangerous than the 
Serbs, the Austrian government in compliance 
with Magyar wishes cut short the life of the 
Serbian Vojvodina and its territory was partly 
incorporated with Croatia and partly with Hun- 
gary. As soon as this was accomplished the prime 
minister Schmerling sent an invitation to the 
patriarch Rajacic to come to Vienna with twenty 
deputies, to propose there the measures and guar- 
antees for the preservation of the Serbian old 
privileges and legal exemptions, especially in re- 
gard of the Serbian language and nationality. 

Conscious of the bitter irony of such a proce- 
dure the Serbian patriarch did not accept this 
invitation, but lodged an energetic and dignified 
protest against the abolition of the Serbian 
Vojvodina, and in an assembly of the national 
representatives formulated fresh demands for 
national autonomy in a narrower territory with 
an overwhelming Serbian population. But Vienna 
paid no attention to it. 



88 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Croatia likewise was passing under the same 
regime of German centralization and absolutism. 
Ban Jelacic exhausted himself in vain struggles 
against the introduction of the German speech in 
Croatia and the italianization of Fiume (Rieka). 
He died sadly disappointed; as his biographer, 
Mr. Hartley, says: 

"It is painful to dwell on this picture of a 
strong man exhausting himself physically and 
mentally in a hopeless struggle against a bureau- 
cracy. It seemed, as Anastasius Griin wrote, 
'that the result of the revolution with all its 
tragedy and heroism had been to fill the supper- 
pots of the officials, and that Herr Bach and Co. 
might have portfolios and gold-laced uniforms.' 

"For Croatia the great effort had been made in 
vain. She loved and honored her ban so long 
as he lived, but she had to realize that neither his 
desire nor her services would reach fulfillment 
and reward. ' ' x 

During the few years which elapsed between 
the war with France (1859) and the war with 
Prussia (1866) Austria's policy was characterized 
by hesitation and temporization. The old path 
of centralization, germanization and absolutism, 
was abandoned, but no new and decisive policy 
was adopted. The Magyars continued in their 
passive resistance, all the time intriguing and 
plotting with Berlin, and the Slavs, utterly dis- 
appointed in their hope, having "received as a 

i M. Hartley, The Man who Saved Austria, Mills & Boon, Ltd., 
London. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 89 

reward that which the Magyars received as a 
punishment," began to look to another quarter 
for freedom and self-government. Those years 
were characterized by a bright renascence of 
national art and literature among the Southern 
Slavs, who now expressed strongly their identical 
ideals and aspirations in one and the same 
beautiful idiom. The best and most prominent 
men in Croatia, such as bishop Strossmayer and 
the historian Racki, cultivated cordial relations 
with the princes of Serbia and Montenegro and 
did everything in their power for the further pro- 
motion of a brotherly union of both branches of 
the Southern Slavs, the Roman catholics and the 
Greek orthodox. 

In 1866, having lost Yenetia and been ejected 
from Germany, Austria decided upon a new 
policy. The emperor Francis Joseph I, though 
beaten and humiliated by Germany, always felt 
and acted as a German. "Doch, ich bin ein 
Deutscher Fiirst" ("Yes, I am still a German 
prince ,, ) he said to Napoleon III. After Sadowa 
it was impossible to govern with the Germans 
alone, but he never for a moment thought of de- 
priving them of their position as the ruling people 
in Austria, and of recognizing the equal rights 
of the other nationalities. It was found that the 
best scheme which would suit both German and 
court interests was to reconcile the Magyars by 
making of them another ruling nation in Austria 
and giving over to their rule all the other na- 
tionalities in Hungary. Thus, in 1867, Austria- 



90 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Hungary appeared in the new form of the present 
dualism, in which the Germans and the Magyars 
combine in subjugating and exploiting all the 
other races. It is that policy which has brought 
about the conditions which are at the root of the 
present world-struggle and the direct causes of 
the war in so far as Austria-Hungary was a part- 
ner to it. 

In summing up this short historical survey of 
Southern Slav relations with Austria-Hungary 
we may say that whatever were the failings, 
shortcomings and deficiencies of the Southern 
Slav heroes who fought the Turks at Kossovo, 
and of all their succeeding generations down to 
the present one, they have atoned for them by 
their valiant fight through centuries for the chris- 
tian faith and national liberty. That ideal so 
strongly possessed the Serbian soul that they 
thought no sacrifice too great in its service. If 
they abandoned their fertile fields and old homes 
and exiled themselves in great numbers to the 
north it was always in the steadfast pursuit of 
the same old ideal preached by the church, sung 
by the bards and handed down from generation 
to generation. They fought and hoped to see that 
ideal realized in a loyal union with Austria and 
Hungary, but all their hopes were blighted by the 
greedy exploitation of a German dynasty and the 
brutal oppression of overbearing, haughty Ger- 
man and Magyar masters, having at their disposal 
all the resources of the state and all the services 
of a most pliant and wily bureaucracy. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY RELATIONS 01 

But such was the source of that ideal and such 
the intensity of their national feeling that nothing 
could quench their yearning for freedom and due 
recognition. They were defeated many times 
but never subdued. The empire was lost; but 
thanks to the inner fire of their soul's ideal a 
nation was made, hardened by fighting and 
stronger after every temporary defeat. At first 
there was some danger that the national idea of 
the Southern Slavs would be narrowed and ob- 
scured by religious differences. But even in the 
most painful moments of religious dissension 
between the Greek orthodox and Roman catholic 
branches of the same people, powerful voices did 
not lack among them who exposed all the absurd- 
ity of a nation basing political issues on consid- 
erations of dogma and religion. The wonderful 
nineteenth century, by broadening men's views 
and by opening up new horizons brought about a 
radical change in that respect and finally reduced 
these religious differences to their proper propor- 
tion. In spite of the repeated intrigues of Vienna 
and Budapest to revive old dissensions and to 
raise new suspicions or to create new rifts in a 
homogeneous national body, the feeling of na- 
tional unity and community of interests became 
more intense and fruitful from day to day among 
the Southern Slavs. All the wiles of the Vienna 
bureaucracy, all the brutality of the haughty 
Magyar nobility, all the disappointment of finding 
peace and freedom in Austria-Hungary as a just 
reward for so many noble sacrifices, only 



92 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

strengthened that feeling of national nnity, 
deepened the conviction of the Southern Slavs 
that their ideal can only be realized in unity and 
complete independence from both Germans and 
Magyars. 1 

iA quotation from Dr. Friedrieh Adler's speech in his own 
defense for the killing of count Stiirgkh, the Austrian premier in 
October, 1916, is a fresh testimony how Austria-Hungary has driven 
to despair every one who loves freedom and possesses a feeling of 
human dignity. Dr. Adler said: "We are in a state which during 
the Counter Eeformation was made Catholic again by fire and 
sword. We are in a state in which the convictions of man are 
despised, a state where it has never been recognised that the in- 
dividual should act according to his conviction. It is a state of 
Metternich 's spirit, — the state which has crushed freedom of speech 
in order to engender slavish sentiments among the population. 
It is this fall from conviction, this lack of principle, which has 
inspired me with deepest hatred, not towards Austria as a state 
organism, but towards Austria as an immoral formation, towards 
the Austrian spirit of falsehood. This Austrian spirit exists in 
every part and in every race-unit of the state: all have been 
degraded by it and in all it is bred by violation of the law." 



V 



THE AUSTRO-SERBIAN CAUSES OF, THE 

WAR 

MANY brilliant authors have written on the 
causes of the present war, and nearly a 
whole literature already exists examin- 
ing the causes and secret reasons for this most 
terrible and bloody crisis ever known in human 
history. But however illuminating, rich in 
thoughts, and convincing in arguments, all those 
writings are incomplete in a way. Nearly all of 
them have lost sight of Austria-Hungary. The 
mighty and terrible figure of Germany has com- 
pletely obliterated her weaker partner, so much 
so that Austria-Hungary is not considered as an 
independent being with its own interests and am- 
bitions, its own will and power to act for good 
or evil, but is referred to as the slave and victim 
of German will and ambition. Such a view is both 
incomplete and erroneous. It is perfectly true 
that Germany desired and prepared in secret for 
the present war, but it is also true that she would 
never have entered upon that struggle had she 
not beforehand been sure of the whole-hearted 
support of Austria-Hungary. It was a great and 
very important part of German statecraft to at- 
tract Austria-Hungary and to bring the interests 
and ambitions of her ruling caste into complete 

93 



94 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

harmony with those of Germany. And it is 
equally true that the governing quarters in 
Austria-Hungary would never have embarked 
upon such a perilous enterprise, had they not 
been backed by the tremendous military organiza- 
tion of Germany and protected by her shining 
armor. 

Germany, who prepared everything in a me- 
thodical and punctual way, left nothing to chance. 
During the Algegiras crisis Europe was on the 
verge of war, and peace was only preserved 
thanks to the unpreparedness of Austria-Hun- 
gary and her reluctance to accept the Moroccan 
question as an issue for a European conflagration. 
Germany on that account swallowed the humilia- 
tion, but she resolved in deadly earnest to lie in 
ambush and to use the first Austrian incident to 
precipitate a crisis surpassing everything in the 
magnitude and weight of the interests involved. 
Of course she was sure that she would not have 
to wait long, and used the few succeeding years 
in supervising her own preparations and adding 
some last devices to her vast arsenal of deadly 
weapons. This is why the assassination of the 
archduke Ferdinand was used as the pretext for 
the war. And here we propose to dwell upon the 
part Austria-Hungary consciously and uncon- 
sciously played in that terrible plot against Euro- 
pean liberties and world civilization. 

Smarting under the heavy and humiliating blow 
received from the hand of Prussia in 1866, the 
first thought of the Hapsburg dynasty was re- 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 95 

venge against Prussia and the regaining of its 
lost status in Germany. With this object in view 
the reconciliation of the Magyars was effected 
and the long-desired constitution was granted to 
the nations in the Austrian part of the Dual mon- 
archy. By the Dual Settlement, the unity of the 
empire was undermined by over-generosity to- 
wards the Magyars in a fit of feverish impatience 
on the part of the emperor and his premier Beust 
who embodied the policy of revenge. " Francis 
Joseph may indeed have accepted the Hungarian 
terms with a mental reservation that, when Prus- 
sia should have been overthrown, the inner con- 
stitution of the monarchy would once more be 
subject to revision. But Bismarck, whose military 
triumph over Austria enabled the Magyars to 
make so good a bargain, came once more to their 
aid. The alliance which Beust endeavored to 
form in 1869 with France and Italy against 
Prussia, was thwarted by the attitude of Russia, 
whose good will Bismarck had assiduously culti- 
vated; and before other schemes could be laid, 
the German victories over France in 1870-71 
saved the Dual Settlement by relegating the 
Austrian policy of revenge for Sadowa to the 
limbo of hopes unfulfilled." 1 

Though the policy of revenge against Prussia 
was relegated, the wound in the heart of the 
Hapsburg dynasty was not healed. But Bis- 
marck held a remedy in readiness. Allied with 
the Magyar oligarchy and German bureaucracy 

i H. W. Steed, The Hapsburg Monarchy, pp. 16, 17. 



96 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

in Austria-Hungary, he was able to remove the 
center of the Austro-Hungarian policy from 
Vienna to Budapest, and to suggest to the 
Austrian court and dynasty that compensation 
for the loss of Italy and the ejection from Ger- 
many lay in the Austro-Hungarian expansion 
in the Balkans. It may be said of Austria that 
she was in earlier times interested in the Balkans, 
just as a certain French prince who became king 
of Poland was interested in his new realm. He 
stayed in Warsaw so long as there was no vacancy 
in France, but as soon as the French throne 
became vacant he abandoned Poland, hurrying 
to Paris to secure the French crown for himself. 
Likewise so long as Austria's interests and posi- 
tion in central Europe were not jeopardized, she 
pursued her policy of conquest in the Balkans. 
But as soon as her position in Germany or her 
possessions in Italy were endangered she forsook 
the Balkans, hurrying to the defense of her cen- 
tral European interests and position. But now, 
whole-heartedly backed by Germany and able to 
rely absolutely upon the Magyars, the Hapsburg 
dynasty, finding the central European door com- 
pletely closed, fixed its eyes on the Balkans, seek- 
ing there in new conquests the healing of its heart- 
wound and the satisfaction of its insatiable thirst 
for new titles and provinces. 

As this new policy of the onrush to the East 
(Drang nach Osten) of Austria-Hungary, actively 
initiated after the German victories of 1870-71, 
was pursued only in the interests of the Hapsburg 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 97 

dynasty and German nation, it was necessary to 
concentrate the whole power in their hands. Since 
the position of the Magyars, the master-nation in 
Hungary, did not rest upon their numerical or 
intellectual superiority, but upon the goodwill of 
the crown and upon the alliance with Germany, 
they were only too willing partners to such a 
policy. To the haughty and overbearing Magyar 
oligarchy which ruled in Hungary the thought 
never occurred that the prosperity and liberty of 
the Magyars could be better promoted by a just 
and fair understanding with other nationalities 
which also inhabited Hungary. 

To the position of the primus inter pares they 
preferred the perilous height of isolated masters. 
But in order to maintain that position and to 
pursue their policy of brutal dominion and 
forcible magyarization towards all other nation- 
alities in Hungary, they sold themselves body and 
soul to the Hapsburg dynasty and their allies in 
Berlin, becoming the most subservient pillar of 
the grandiose scheme of a German Central Europe 
from Ostend to Constantinople and far to Bag- 
dad. 

In order to realize that plan, it was in the first 
place necessary to completely subjugate and 
break up the resistance of the Southern Slavs, 
who were the first chosen victims to be immolated 
on the altar of German world grandeur and do- 
minion. To that end the old motto of Austria, 
divide et impera, was used with unexampled thor- 
oughness during the last fifty years of her rela- 



98 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

tions with the Southern Slavs. All the old 
methods of subjugation were perfected, and new 
means for the division and breaking up of their 
resistance were invented and diabolically applied. 

In the first instance the Southern Slavs were 
nearly equally divided between Austria and 
Hungary; but this main division had many sub- 
divisions. 

Thus the Serbs in south Hungary, in Banat of 
Temesvar, Backa and Baranya, were unceremo- 
niously handed over to the tender mercy of the 
Magyars, their previously granted privileges were 
abolished; their church and all educational and 
other national institutions put under the direct 
and absolute control of Budapest. The Serbo- 
Croats in Croatia, Slavonia and Syrmia were 
granted a sort of autonomy under the control of 
Budapest. The lands of the Southern Slavs in 
Austria were divided into so many crown lands 
and provinces with local autonomy of the true 
Austrian type depending on Vienna. In Carinthia 
and Styria they were outnumbered and overruled 
by the Germans; in Trieste, Goritzia and Istria 
by the Italians, and in Dalmatia and Carniola, 
where they possessed overwhelming national ma- 
jorities, the Austrian bureaucracy used all the 
means in their power to revive old religious dis- 
sensions, maliciously estranging the Roman cath- 
olics from the Greek orthodox, and by intimida- 
tion or corruption she contrived to keep the South- 
ern Slavs from presenting a united front to her 
as long as possible. 



AUSTRG-SERBIAN WAR 99 

Finally Bosnia and Hercegovina were adminis- 
tered by a joint ministry of finances depending 
both on Vienna and Budapest. Even that was not 
enough. The Serbian church, although deprived 
of its autonomy for any practical purposes, was 
split into three different and quite independent 
administrations. The Serbs of Hungary in reli- 
gious matters were dependent on the patriarchate 
at Karlovci; those in Bosnia and Hercegovina 
had their own church organization whose head was 
the metropolitan at Sarajevo, while the head of 
the Serbian church in Dalmatia had its seat at 
Czernovitz, in Bukovina, a thousand miles away 
at the other end of the empire. 

In order to enhance the above-mentioned idea 
of division and to be better able to deceive 
Europe, a separate Bosnian nation was created 
and a Bosnian language was invented. In its 
blindness of official zeal the Austrian bureaucracy 
surpassed even itself. When the late M. de 
Kallay as joint minister of finances stood at the 
head of the Bosnian administration, he put his 
own book, The History of the Serbs, on the index 
and prohibited its introduction into Bosnia- 
Hercegovina, because previous to the occupation 
he could not but say the truth that Bosnia and 
Hercegovina were purely Serbian provinces in- 
habited solely by Serbian people of the purest 
stock. But now it was dangerous that the 
Bosnian youths educated in the schools under 
Austrian administration should know the truth 
about their origin or the first elements of the his- 



100 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

tory of their own nation. Of course Serbia proper 
was not lost sight of. Exploiting the vanity of an 
unbalanced prince, Vienna encouraged the anti- 
national and anti-democratic policy pursued by 
the unhappy king Milan and his son Alexander 
in return for the barren promise of ensuring the 
maintenance of their dynasty upon the Serbian 
throne. During their reign the Austro-Hunga- 
rian minister at Belgrade was not only a persona 
grata but wielded a power justifiable only if 
Serbia had been really a protectorate of Austria- 
Hungary, whilst the energy and resources of the 
country were exhausted in a fruitless struggle be- 
tween the people and the dynasty. Thus the 
Vienna cabinet had sanguine hopes that one fine 
day Serbia like a ripe fruit would fall of her own 
accord into Austria's lap. 

Thanks to German " organization' ' the 
Southern Slavs were methodically deprived of 
their natural leaders, and every little resistance 
was used as a pretext for condemning their 
nobles on a charge of high treason and for con- 
fiscating their goods for the profit of Germans or 
Magyar aristocrats. So it came about that the 
greatest land proprietors among the Serb popula- 
tion in Croatia and in south Hungary are alien 
families who rarely visit the country in which 
their immense properties are situated. The chief 
among them are the reigning prince of Schaum- 
burg-Lippe, the Magyar count Batthyany and the 
Roman prince Odescalchi. Thus the entire South- 
ern Slav aristocracy has been ruined or the nobles 






AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 101 

turned into renegades by intimidation and cor- 
ruption. Even that did not stop the German 
spirit of ' ' organization. ' 7 The Turkish system of 
making janissaries of the christian children, so 
much deplored as being brutal and inhuman, has 
been until now used by Austria against the South- 
ern Slavs. Not only did the Southern Slavs pro- 
vide the greatest percentage of soldiers for all 
Austria's battles, but the children of the most 
prominent families were taken away and brought 
up in the military schools, where their education 
consisted mainly in instilling them with German 
ideals and fidelity to the Hapsburg dynasty. 

With true German thoroughness public opinion 
was also organized in favor of German plans 
and objects. Germany had the monopoly of 
information concerning the Southern Slavs, and 
the world could see them only through Ger- 
man spectacles. Every protest against oppres- 
sion was represented as a revolt of barbarians 
against the bliss of a higher civilization. Every 
attempt to obtain justice and due recognition was 
described as a maneuver of the agents of Pan- 
slavism, and the world was invited to assist Ger- 
man culture against Slav barbarism. This organ- 
ization bore magnificent fruits. At the Berlin 
Congress in 1878 the "honest broker,' ' as Bis- 
marck styled himself, was able with the approval 
of Europe to make a present to Austria-Hungary 
of Bosnia and of Hercegovina, two purely Serbian 
provinces. 

By, that achievement Bismarck obtained a 



102 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

really great victory. In soothing the pain of the 
Hapsburg dynasty and healing the wound bleed- 
ing ever since Sadowa, he attached Austria-Hun- 
gary definitely to his cause, and the Austro-Ger- 
man alliance formed in the same year (1879) was 
but a conspicuous proof of his mastery. The Aus- 
tro-Hungarian joint foreign minister, count An- 
drassy, could come in triumph from Berlin to 
Vienna, and in announcing the news to the em- 
peror, could say solemnly, " Majesty, the door of 
the Balkans is now open to you!" But as an 
Italian author remarks: "From this very day, 
outside and inside the empire, was ushered in a 
policy anti-Slav and consequently anti-Balkanic. 
In occupying Bosnia-Hercegovina, Austria's first 
object was to prevent Serbia and Montenegro 
from raising there their flag and from uniting to 
form another important Slav state in the south. 
With that same object in view Vienna has always 
hatched intrigues to divide Belgrade and Cetinje, 
and has tried as long as possible to keep in her oc- 
cupation the sandjak of Novi-Bazar. But with a 
persistent policy of denationalization and persecu- 
tion she has ended by creating dissatisfaction, the 
spirit of rebellion, the South Slav Irredenta. We 
now know what has been done in Bosnia where the 
authority of the bayonet still reigns supreme ; and 
the last transformations in the government have 
brought the whole civil administration under the 
control of the chief military commandant, general 
Potiorek." 1 

i Virginio Gayda, L' Austria di Francesco Giuseppe. Milano. 
iioma. 1915. 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 103 

If the occupation of Bosnia and Hercegovina 
was a solace to the Hapsburg crown after the loss 
of Venetia and Lombardy, the joy over the deci- 
sion arrived at at the Congress of Berlin was not 
without its bitterness. Count Andrassy was never 
pardoned by the crown for having achieved only 
a half success, since it was merely an occupation 
with a European mandate of administration and 
not simple and outright annexation. Therefore 
the annexation of those provinces was prepared 
for secretly and carefully. But it provoked in 
1908-9 a dangerous crisis. It was a prelude to 
the later invasion of Belgium and a key to the 
political psychology of the Central Empires. 
United in a common purpose, relying on their 
armed forces, Austria-Hungary and Germany 
showed to the world that solemn international 
treaties are to them mere scraps of paper, re^ 
morselessly thrown away whenever it suited their 
interests or ambitions. The readiness of Austria- 
Hungary and Germany to bring about a general 
European conflagration was demonstrated beyond 
any doubt. Fortunately the crisis subsided with- 
out an armed conflict. 

Austria-Hungary achieved a brilliant diplo- 
matic victory, quite to the taste of Berlin and 
Vienna, greatly enhancing her prestige ; but even 
that victory was not everywhere received as a 
complete success, and the rejoicing over it was 
not without the shadow of a cloud. There re- 
mained Serbia, and whoever spent some weeks in 
Vienna during those memorable days full of ex- 



104 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

citement and grave forebodings and had a key to 
the understanding of the psychology and resolu- 
tions of the high military and governing circles, 
would have felt and seen how deeply they re- 
gretted that the crisis subsided without giving 
them the long-sought opportunity to crush Serbia 
and to finish once and for all with that tiny state 
boldly obstructing their way. The annexation 
crisis was a kind of general mustering of forces, 
which proved to Vienna that Europe was not 
quite so ignorant concerning the importance of 
the position occupied by Serbia, and that the latter 
was not without European sympathy. But the 
crisis proved also that Serbia, at the risk of her 
own existence, was ready to fight for the inde- 
pendence and freedom of her race enslaved in 
Austria-Hungary, and that moreover in that fight 
she could fairly rely on the sympathies and pos- 
sible assistance of all the Southern Slavs, in spite 
of their division into separate provinces. Their 
moral union and resoluteness no longer to allow 
themselves to be treated by Vienna and Budapest 
like slaves and third-class citizens, was an obvious 
fact, which could not but fill their masters with 
grave apprehensions and sinister borebodings. 
Looking through the spectacles of mediaeval 
prejudices, the court circles in Austria-Hungary 
could never clearly realize whence arose that sen- 
timent of freedom and human dignity in their 
Southern Slav people which inspired them with 
a spirit of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Of 
course Serbia appeared to them the unique source. 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 105 

She must be crushed before that spirit could breed 
open insurrection. Hence the irrevocable resolu- 
tion of Vienna to use the first opportunity to 
extirpate that spirit of incipient revolt among 
the Southern Slav subjects of the Dual monarchy, 
and to annihilate Serbia as an eternal source of 
anxiety to Vienna and the greatest obstacle to her 
triumphant march to the East. 

The annexation crisis therefore marks a new 
and most acute phase of the Austro-Serbian rela- 
tion, which led directly to the present war. Serbia 
was doomed, and only a propitious moment was 
awaited for the final performance. Meanwhile 
the Southern Slavs within the empire were sub- 
jected to special treatment at the hands of the 
Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy. 

The whole Southern Slav population was now 
suspect in the eyes of the Viennese high circles, 
and a pliant bureaucracy set up against it its vast 
arsenal of oppressive measures. A whole nation 
was struck at through its leaders, and every prom- 
inent man became subject to strict vigilance or 
persecution. The system of ' 'f rightfulness' ' was 
applied by German agents and officials before the 
present war. In the midst of the annexation 
crisis, on the eve of war with Serbia, high state 
officials and accredited diplomats were not 
ashamed to hatch wily plots against the life and 
honor of their own citizens, hiring false witnesses 
and forging documents which should bring about 
their condemnation. Amongst various proceed- 
ings inaugurated against many prominent Serbs 



106 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

in the monarchy, one that became world-famous 
was the monstrous trial of fifty-three Serbs, of all 
social conditions, who were accused of high trea- 
son in 1909 and brought up for trial at Zagreb, 
and with which were connected the proceedings of 
professor Fridjung at Vienna. The chief docu- 
ments were forged at the Austrian legation in 
Serbia under the control of count Forgach, Aus- 
trian minister. The people and authorities of this 
country have now some experience of Austria's 
diplomatic methods and can easily imagine what 
the Austrians are able to do when they have noth- 
ing to fear and so much to win. Fortunately for 
the accused persons, after long months of im- 
prisonment and weary trials the clumsy forgeries 
were so discredited that the trial threatened to 
become a world scandal, thanks to the presence of 
the representatives of many leading papers in 
Europe, and consequently the proceedings were 
abolished. Not one of the many compromised 
officials was ever reminded of his responsibility, 
and some were ostentatiously promoted to rank 
and honors. But this new persecution inaugu- 
rated mainly against the Serbs was intended not 
only to frighten the orthodox Serbs but also to 
create new dissensions between them and the 
Eoman catholics, to whom were made overtures 
and flattering compliments on their loyalty to the 
crown and the state. But the intrigue failed 
miserably, as the Serbs were not frightened and 
the Roman catholics withstood all temptations, 
completely solidarizing themselves with the 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR , 107 

Serbs, defending the latter during the trial, and 
openly denouncing the abominable methods of 
Vienna and Budapest, which though used in our 
days, were better suited to the time of the Spanish 
inquisition. The short-sighted Austrian bureau- 
cracy achieved only negative results : the national 
unity of the Serbo-Croats was strengthened, their 
feeling of solidarity enhanced, their disgust at 
Austria-Hungary's governing methods increased, 
and the public opinion throughout the world at 
last awoke and began to be interested in the events 
of that corner, where the darkness of mediaeval 
ages until then reigned supreme. 

There was always a vacillation and fluctuation 
in the Hapsburg's policy. The end remained 
always the same but the means of attaining it 
changed, engendering an ebb and flow of different 
systems under which the peoples in Austria- 
Hungary were constrained to live. The Dual 
Settlement was not intended to last for ever, and 
it outlived the term reasonably assigned to it. 
After fifty years of wear and tear it became 
shabby and obsolete. In some very important 
quarters in Vienna, whose leader was supposed 
to be the late archduke Francis Ferdinand, it was 
thought that the Dual Settlement had yielded its 
maximum of good, and the time had come for it 
to make room for another system. To archduke 
Ferdinand was attributed the idea of "the Trial- 
ism,' * as a new experiment in the life of the 
monarchy, which was to begin on his ascending the 
throne. 



108 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

The idea of the Trialism consisted in this : the 
Dual Settlement was to be replaced by a new ar- 
rangement of the Hapsburg monarchy by which 
Galicia was to be united on a basis of equality 
with Hungary proper. The kingdom of Croatia- 
Slavonia was to be taken away from Hungary and 
to be united with Bosnia, Hercegovina, Dalmatia, 
Istria and Carniola in a new Southern Slav king- 
dom as a third main part of the empire. It may 
be, this scheme was the outcome of the mature 
thoughts of the late archduke Ferdinand, who 
deemed it necessary to give some satisfaction to 
the national feelings of the Southern Slavs, and 
by a piece of creative policy to extirpate the spirit 
of brooding revolt among them, to win their 
loyalty, and perhaps by peaceful methods to draw 
Serbia into the orbit of the monarchy. Or it may 
be, was conceived in a fit of anger with the Mag- 
yars, as a means to curb their arrogance. Or was 
it merely the result of his impatience and unwill- 
ingness to rule by a system half a century old put 
into force and maintained by his imperial uncle? 
To these questions it is now difficult to give an 
answer. 

In every country with more or less pronounced 
despotic rule the accession of a new monarch is 
always preceded by a halo of hopes and expecta- 
tions or a cloud of fears and anxieties. Every 
Hapsburg firmly believes in a special " mission' * 
of his own. Whatever may be its foundation the 
idea of Trialism was a fact of Austro-Hungarian 
political psychology, provoking hopes and fears, 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 109 

calling into play court intrigues and counterplots. 
Two facts were firmly established. The late arch- 
duke Ferdinand was not liked by his royal cousins 
and never felt any pleasure in their company. 
He avoided as much as possible the surroundings 
of the court, where he did not feel at home, and 
dwelt with much affection in the narrow circle of 
his morganatic family, for which the love of a hus- 
band and father was a compensation for the 
malicious pricks and constant slights of the Haps- 
burg house and their courtiers. 

How much he disliked them is best proved by 
his last will and the dispositions concerning his 
funeral rites. He forbade their presence, and 
chose a resting-place far from their eyes and from 
their gossip. The second fact was his dislike of 
the Magyars, and he never spared actions or 
words to show how much he scorned Budapest 
and her governing circles. 

Meanwhile the last Balkan war against Turkey 
broke out. The cabinet of Vienna became restless 
and pledged itself to neutrality during the 
struggle, with secret hopes that the Balkan states 
would be beaten and Serbia would come out 
exhausted and with a loss of prestige and at- 
traction for her kinsmen in Austria-Hungary. 
Faithful to her preconceived idea, Vienna decided 
not to allow any increase of strength or inde- 
pendence to Serbia. And already in September, 
1912, prince Schwarzenberg declared in the 
Austro-Hungarian delegations "a territorial in- 
crease of Serbia represents an immediate danger 



110 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to Austria-Hungary, and the monarchy must 
hinder it." 

Her hopes in Turkey proved to be money put 
on the wrong horse, and everybody knows how 
Vienna during the Ambassadorial Conference in 
London remained constantly in a quarreling 
mood, using every means to deprive Serbia of 
prestige and territorial gains. She succeeded in 
debarring her from access to the sea, and pre- 
pared the situation for the Serbo-Bulgarian war. 
She not only encouraged Bulgaria to attack 
Serbia, but virtually pledged herself to Bulgaria 
that she should be rewarded, whatever might 
be the outcome of the struggle. In that again she 
was disappointed. From the second war Serbia 
came out aggrandized, and with such prestige in 
the eyes of the world, and especially among the 
Southern Slavs, that Vienna decided to act imme- 
diately lest it be too late. Exhausted in two 
strenuous wars, Serbia was to be attacked before 
she could recuperate, and it was firmly believed 
in Vienna and Budapest that Serbia would fall 
an easy prey to their onslaught. But immediate 
action was also necessary in order to redeem the 
pledge to Bulgaria, as the means of maintaining 
the agreement arrived at with her. As soon as 
the Treaty of Bukarest in 1913 was signed, the 
Vienna cabinet asked Italy to be a party to her 
attack upon Serbia; this we now know, thanks 
to the revelation made in October, 1914, by signor 
Giolitti, then the Italian prime minister. But 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 111 

[taly refused, and the attack upon Serbia was 
delayed until the next good opportunity. 

During all that time Serbia felt the pressure 
of Vienna and the threatening cloud did not dis- 
appear from her horizon. In June next year, 
1914, a meeting took place at Konopisht between 
the Kaiser William II and the archduke Francis 
Ferdinand. At this fatal meeting a compact was 
entered into under which the map of central 
Europe was to be transformed and the peace of 
the world was doomed. 

Three weeks later the archduke Ferdinand went 
to Sarajevo and the tragedy of his assassination 
took place. Although it was used as a pretext 
to begin hostilities, the whole truth about it is not 
yet divulged. The trial of Princip and Cabrino- 
vic was conducted in camera, and from previous 
experience of the Austrian law courts, which 
never did shrink from hiring false witnesses or 
forging documents to suit the political require- 
ments of Vienna and Budapest, it would be a bold 
assumption to believe their statements about it. 
One thing is beyond doubt, Serbia had nothing to 
win and very much to lose by his assassination, 
and consequently the Serbian government was sin- 
cere in its condemnation of the crime and would 
have done everything in its power to prevent it. 
Budapest, on the contrary, feared much the ac- 
cession of the archduke Francis Ferdinand, and 
was, to say nothing more, very careless about the 
measures protecting his life. Budapest and the 
Viennese court circles believed firmly in the 



112 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

triumph of the Central Empires; they eagerly 
fished for the crushing of Serbia, but feared 
beyond everything the return of the late archduke 
Ferdinand from the battlefield crowned with the 
wreath of victory. 

For all those who conspired against the world 
peace and liberties the tragedy of Sarajevo was 
the finest opportunity for letting loose their evil 
designs. In vain Serbia in her answer to the 
Austro-Hungarian ultimatum submitted in nearly 
every point and went further than any indepen- 
dent state had ever gone before, in her wish to 
spare herself and the world from the awful ordeal 
of our days. In vain sir Edward Grey exerted 
himself in proposing means for a peaceful settle- 
ment ; nothing was of avail. At the last moment 
when Vienna, appalled by the inevitable conse- 
quences, showed some signs of hesitation and 
wavering, Berlin and Budapest joined hands and 
forced upon the world the day for which they had 
yearned so long and so ardently. 

Serbia was not the cause of the war, but she 
was a cause of the war, for Serbia and Austria- 
Hungary are two beings not only different but 
naturally antagonistic and representing two con- 
flicting principles : that of democracy and nation- 
ality, and that of rule by divine right, so that war 
between them was only a question of time. The 
existence of Serbia meant for Austria the nega- 
tion of her position as a great power and a 
stumbling block in the way of her expansion. 

Serbia, however small and weak, had a great 



AUSTRO-SERBIAN WAR 113 

mission to fulfill, i. e., to liberate and unite in a 
free community her nation enslaved in Austria- 
Hungary. That mission was the raison d'etre of 
Serbia. She had either to fulfill it or to perish, 
and since the fulfillment of her task could only be 
achieved at the expense of Austria-Hungary, no 
wonder that there was no love lost between them. 
They were two beings mutually excluding each 
other. But it is necessary to keep in mind that 
Austria-Hungary played here the active and 
Serbia the passive part, as Serbia's mission to 
liberate her nation had devolved on her only after 
centuries-long experience, and repeated failures 
had proved to the Southern Slavs the impossibility 
of finding in Austria-Hungary freedom and just 
protection for national development. 



VI 

SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 
I. — First and Second Austrian Invasions 

ALREADY twice within the last three years 
Austria-Hungary had been on the verge 
of war with Serbia; and her political 
circles in Vienna and Budapest were regretting 
that they had not carried out their warlike plans, 
as they could not be sure of a new opportunity 
which would give them the same chances of suc- 
cess as the annexation of Bosnia and Hercegovina 
or the Albanian crisis. The Serbian government 
was well aware that Austria-Hungary was re- 
solved and prepared to attack Serbia, and that 
she was only awaiting the first fresh opportunity 
as a pretext to open hostilities. Consequently 
the Serbian policy in regard to Austria-Hungary 
was most cautious and conciliatory, avoiding 
even a shadow of provocation or discourtesy. The 
murder of the archduke Ferdinand was received, 
therefore, with grave foreboding and deep re- 
grets. But the general public remained to the last 
moment confident and unconscious of the gravity 
of the situation. The order for the mobilization 
of the Serbian army, issued on July 25th, came 

114 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 115 

as a great surprise, and was received everywhere 
with stupefaction and mute resignation, and even 
by some as a harmful and mischievous joke. 

Austria's military action was in complete har- 
mony with her diplomatic action. It is a new 
proof, if any is necessary, that the present war 
was "made in Germany," a genuine piece of Prus- 
sian statecraft. Austria-Hungary did not per- 
ceive the grim determination of Germany to im- 
pose war upon her ally, appearing at the same 
time in the guise of a faithful friend ready to 
fight in an Austrian quarrel. Austro-Hungarian 
diplomacy, as we now know positively from the 
published documents, hesitated at the last moment, 
reluctant to take the decisive step and willing to 
accept the proposal of sir Edward Grey. But 
Germany stepped in and rushed her into war, 
regardless of consequences. 

Austria-Hungary declared war, but hesitated to 
open hostilities. She was unprepared or unable 
to imitate the example of Germany in her violent 
advance into Belgium, and thus she lost some 
precious moments which perhaps compromised 
her whole Serbian campaign. Blinded by their 
overwhelming conceit, the Austro-Hungarian gen- 
erals could not imagine that Serbia would dare to 
resist. They planned to occupy Belgrade, to hang 
a few hundred influential citizens, and thus quench 
their thirst for revenge by inflicting upon Serbia 
a moral and material punishment. They expected 
vaguely that the war might end in this way. It 
was this that saved Serbia for the moment. 



116 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Had Austria-Hungary attempted to imitate the 
German onrush through Belgium, Serbia's posi- 
tion would have been seriously compromised, for 
her greatest danger would have been a quick, 
resolute advance of the Austro-Hungarian troops 
already massed on her frontiers. 

Fortunately, nothing of the kind happened. 
During the first week, the Austro-Hungarian 
forces confined themselves to incessant but irreso- 
lute and feeble attempts to cross the Save and 
take Belgrade, but every time they were repulsed 
with great losses. This gave time and instilled 
new courage into the whole Serbian army. Within 
two weeks, the Serbian army was concentrated, 
full of confidence, ready to fight an army half a 
million strong. 

The Serbian army consisted of troops of the 
first ban, men from 20 to 30 years of age, the 
second ban from 31 to 37 years, the third ban 
from 38 to 45, and, lastly, the troops of the na- 
tional defense, men from 45 to 55 and from 17 to 
20 years of age. The mobilizing being general, 
Serbia was able to meet Austria at once with an 
active army 350,000 strong. The number of avail- 
able men was greater, but Serbia was short of 
rifles, and many thousands of troops were armed 
and included in the active army some weeks later 
after some 120,000 rifles had been sent from 
Russia. 

The newly annexed provinces were represented 
by some thousands of young recruits who had 
only had about five months of military service 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 117 

when war broke out, but who immediately gave 
proof of their valor and dashing bravery. 

Two weeks later, exasperated by the Serbian 
stubbornness at Belgrade, the Austro-Hungarian 
generals quite abandoned the idea of taking 
Belgrade by costly frontal attacks, and so they 
concentrated large forces, 250,000 strong, in the 
north-west corner of Serbia. They crossed 
simultaneously the rivers Drina and Save, and 
spread their army over a front sixty miles long. 
They advanced proudly into Serbia, confident 
that the occupation of that country was a matter 
of two weeks. But already some serious and 
bitter fighting had taken place round Sabac with 
the troops who were defending that town and the 
passage of the Save. The Serbians withdrew, and, 
rallying their forces, met the enemy on the eastern 
slopes of the Cer mountain. The Austro-Hun- 
garian left wing resting on the river Save and 
the right wing on the Drina could not be turned, 
but the Serbs made a fine coup in dashing with 
unexpected impetuosity against the center. In a 
very hot battle lasting two days (the 20th and 
the 21st of August) they beat the Austro-Hunga- 
rian center and occupied the ridge of the Cer 
mountain. A wedge was driven into the Austro- 
Hungarian forces cutting them into two parts, 
which were beaten one after another in engage- 
ments lasting ten days. This Serbian victory was 
the first serious defeat of the Teutonic armies, and 
marked the turning point in checking the tide of 
German militarism. This victory was won by 



118 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

general Stepanovic, who is known in the Serbian 
army as "one who never lost a battle." 

The advantages of this victory were twofold. 
The Serbians were able to hold on their frontiers 
large forces which could have been employed 
more advantageously elsewhere, and the moral 
effect of this victory was enormous. This little 
Serbia, of whom Austro-Hungarians spoke with 
contempt, won the first general battle on a 
European front ; and her success, thrilling through 
the hearts of the soldiers of the Allies, contributed 
to the Russian advance in Galicia, and set a fine 
example and was a good augury for the brave 
men who won the battle of the Marne. 

But the district of Macva, which was invaded 
by the resentful Austro-Hungarian troops, fell a 
victim to fearful and indescribable atrocities. 
The Serbians had just fought with Turks, Bulgars 
and Albanians. They could expect at least as 
much humanity from Austrians as they had ex- 
perienced from their Balkan enemies. They firmly 
and naively believed that German "Kultur" had 
really some meaning, and that an army of a 
would-be civilized state, whose press daily up- 
braided the Balkan people for their barbarity and 
savagery, would not wage war upon defenseless 
children, women and old broken men. Neither age 
nor sex were spared, and their wanton destruction 
of private property could be equaled only by the 
action of a band of madmen. It is a sad story, 
and together with the atrocities committed by 
Teutonic hordes in Belgium, France and Poland, 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 119 

bears a terrible testimony against the insuf- 
ficiencies of the present materialistic civilization. 
A Swiss scientist, R. A. Reiss, D. Sc., in his book 
The Austro-Hungarian Atrocities, has published 
many of the documents concerning the atrocities 
committed in Serbia during this first invasion of 
Austro-Hungarian troops, but we prefer to spare 
the reader the harrowing details involved. For- 
tunately for humanity it was not all the Austro- 
Hungarian troops who behaved so disgustingly, 
and many of their men and officers were really 
disgusted and ashamed to belong to such an army. 
But it is necessary to say, as sir Oliver Lodge has 
pointed out in his book The War and After, that 
beastliness is the twin sister of cowardice. After 
the capture of Sabac the Austrian troops and 
officers proved their worth by killing and out- 
raging girls and women, seeing in every one of 
them a disguised Serbian comitadji. An Austro- 
Hungarian official communique in referring to 
these atrocities tried to excuse them by the neces- 
sity felt by the troops to protect themselves 
against the " dastardly' ' attacks from the houses. 
Is this not the most authentic testimony to the 
dastardly nature of the Austrian troops and their 
masters? 

In the beginning of September, after the fall of 
Lvov, notwithstanding the menace of the Russian 
advance in Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian gen- 
erals could bear the shame of being defeated by 
little Serbia no longer, and sought a success at 
any cost. With that object in view they decided 



120 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

on a new offensive against Serbia, taking all meas- 
ures to secure victory. 

The Austro-Hungarian army at that time was 
disposed along the Serbian frontier as follows : 

One division and a half along the Danube, be- 
tween Pancevo and Bela Cerkva (White Church), 
the 9th army corps on the line Mitrovica-Jarak 
along the Save. 

The 8th army corps on the front Bielina, Mitro- 
vica. 

The 13th army corps opposite the Serbian front 
Loznica-Lesnica. 

Parts of the 15th and 16th army corps between 
Zvornik and Srebrenica. 

A strong detachment, with the fortress of Vise- 
grad as its base, pushed on in the direction of 
the sandjak of Novi Bazar, hoping to drive a 
wedge between the Serbian and Montenegrin 
armies, and if possible to stir up an insurrection 
in the mussulman population, among which the 
Austrian agents had been continuously active. 

The offensive was begun simultaneously on the 
whole western front along the Drina, and at many 
points the righting was of a most desperate char- 
acter. The southern wing penetrated to a con- 
siderable distance between Serbia and Monte- 
negro, but failed to achieve any lasting success. 
Not one mussulman came to the assistance of the 
invaders. Reinforced by troops from the third 
ban, the Serbians met the enemy on the Cerni 
Verh and inflicted such a sanguinary defeat on 
him that four weeks later thousands of bodies of 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 121 

the enemy were discovered in the deep ravines or 
scattered among the trees of the forest. 

The whole force of the enemy, from 200,000 
strong to 250,000 men, pressed hard on the Ser- 
bians along the banks of the Save and Drina. 
Their main army crossed the Drina between 
Zvornik and Bielina, but instead of directing 
their principal blow against Macva, as in August, 
they met here with complete failure, and the last 
remnants of the beaten troops were driven back 
across the Drina on September 10th. 

On the front Lubovia-Loznica the Serbians had 
but a small force, for they hoped that the moun- 
tainous character of the country would help to 
check the enemy's advance. Anyhow, the Austro- 
Hungarians found here more favorable conditions 
for invading Serbia. They concentrated on this 
point large forces with troops especially trained 
for mountain fighting. For five days they ad- 
vanced steadily, although they paid dearly for 
every success, as the Serbians contested hotly 
each step. 

The enemy's blow was directed against Valevo 3 
the Serbian headquarters and a very important 
center of communications. They advanced along 
the crests of the Goucevo, Boranja, Jagodnja, 
and Sokolica mountains. Had they captured 
Rozan hill on Sokolica their advance to Valevo 
would probably have been successful, for Rozan 
dominates all the surrounding positions which 
lead down gradually to Valevo. On September 
14th only two very tired and exhausted Serbian 



W% SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

regiments were left to defend Rozan, and their 
resistance was broken before overwhelming num- 
bers. The Austro-Hungarian troops advanced in 
close files, notwithstanding the fearful losses 
which they sustained at every advance. Their 
general had pledged his word to enter Valevo on 
September 20th, and he drew constantly upon 
fresh troops to fill the gaps in his lines. 

It was a moment of tragic suspense. It seemed 
that the stubborn resistance of the valiant but 
sorely tried Serbian army was at an end, and that 
the fall of Rozan Would not only entail the fall 
of Valevo, but also that of Belgrade, whose gal- 
lant defense was the pride of the army and nation. 
Happily a Serbian regiment, to which I was at- 
tached during this war, arrived in time, and by 
a bloody victory on the Rozan stopped the Aus- 
trian offensive. 

Beaten at Rozan and driven from other posi- 
tions in the second half of September, 1914, the 
Austro-Hungarian troops occupied the hills of the 
Jagodnja and the Goucevo mountains, where, 
indeed, their position seemed safe. The Serbians, 
after some vain and costly attempts to dislodge 
the enemy from these last positions, and always 
frustrated by the big guns from the other side of 
the Drina, abandoned the offensive, and during 
five weeks kept on the defensive on this front, 
whilst endeavoring by an offensive in Bosnia to 
oblige the enemy to withdraw from Serbia. This 
latter attempt failed because, fearing a new Aus- 
trian invasion, the Serbs dared not send any con- 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 123 

siderable forces to Bosnia, where, moreover, the 
provisioning of large bodies of troops offered in- 
superable difficulties. 

But simultaneously with the fighting on the 
front Zvornik Bielina, nearly every day engage- 
ments took place along the Drina and the Save* 
The Austro-Hungarian troops vainly attempted 
for some weeks to find a new base for the invasion 
of Serbia. They could not advance anywhere 
and were forced to keep to the banks of the 
frontier rivers, having lost thousands of their 
bravest troops in the passage of the larger 
streams. 

The one success of the Austro-Hungarian pene- 
tration into Serbian territory was the stopping 
of the Serbian advance into Syrmia, for the Ser- 
bian headquarters, for strategical reasons, called 
back all the troops which had crossed the Save. 
Having retaken Zemlin, the Austro-Hungarians 
with increased fury, resumed the bombardment of 
Belgrade, and it seemed as if the city would be 
completely ruined. 

77. — Austria's Third Invasion of Serbia 

Six weeks after their second invasion was 
stopped, the Austro-Hungarians began their third 
and greatest offensive. They accumulated against 
Serbia five whole army corps, besides a division 
operating around Visegrad, and one division op- 
erating against Belgrade. The Austrian forces 
at the beginning of November exceeded 320,000 



124 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

men. They pressed most vigorously against the 
Serbian troops entrenched opposite Gucevo, and 
at Macva on the marshy plain between the Drina 
and the Save. At that moment the Serbian 
troops were in a most difficult position. They 
were far from their center, and, owing to bad 
roads, provisioning was nearly impossible. Sec- 
ondly, after repelling for six weeks the constantly 
repeated attempts of the Austro-Hungarians, the 
Serbians were exhausted and overstrained, 
especially in Macva, where, owing to the marshy 
ground, their trenches were full of water. 

Moreover, they felt the lack of artillery ammu- 
nition, which had largely been expended in the 
two previous wars, and could not be easily re- 
plenished from France or Russia, and headquar- 
ters considered it an earnest necessity to with- 
draw these troops nearer to the center in order 
to shorten the front of the Serbian army and 
to give the enemy his turn of the bad conditions 
amongst which the Serbians had been fighting 
until then. 

All these facts and considerations led the Ser- 
bian generals to propose the withdrawing of the 
army nearer to the base. This move, however, 
was postponed owing to political and moral rea- 
sons, as they feared the effect which would be 
produced by the occupation by the enemy of a 
large part of Serbia. But the Austrians, with 
overwhelming forces and powerful artillery, began 
the offensive along the whole front, compelling the 
Serbs to retreat at the beginning of November. 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 125 

Even the most orderly retirement presents 
enormous difficulties. One of the gravest was the 
lack of good roads. Roads in Serbia had never 
been good, but during the three months of con- 
stant warfare they had become quite impassable. 
The troops which had taken part in the action 
at Macva, and had retreated from §abac to Laza- 
revac, were not attacked, and were able to occupy 
previously chosen positions on the right bank of 
the river Kolubara. The others, which had fought 
in the Gucevo and Jagodnja mountains during the 
retreat to Valevo, met with some resistance at 
Pecka, Zavlaka and Kamenica, but it was easy to 
see that the Austrian troops attacked reluctantly 
and rarely took full advantage of their successes, 
such as the loss by the Serbians of some twenty 
guns, which they were unable to get away owing 
to the bad roads. 

The former suggestion that Rozan was the key 
to the position of Valevo proved quite accurate. 
Having abandoned Rozan, the Serbians evacuated 
Valevo without a fight, and took up a position 
on the right bank of the Kolubara. In the south, 
the second army, consisting of troops which had 
operated in Bosnia, retreated also in the direc- 
tion of Visegrad and Uzice. When they ap- 
proached their base, the Serbian armies halted on 
the front Uzice- Valevo-Lazarevac-Obrenovac, and 
here from the middle of November a series of most 
(desperate battles was waged lasting almost unin- 
terruptedly up to December 10th. 

It was a real wrestle for life or death by two 



126 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

embittered foes. The Austrians fought bravely, 
but without the real patriotism or enthusiasm 
with which the Serbian army was inspired. They 
were assisted by scientific leadership and stern 
discipline, and, compared with the Serbians, they 
were richly supplied with warm clothes, whilst 
they overwhelmed the Serbians by the quantity 
and weight of their artillery. Every Austro- 
Hungarian army corps operating in Serbia had 
about 100 pieces. Thus the whole army possessed 
over 600 guns. The Serbians opposed this force 
with a far smaller number of guns, but with very 
experienced gunners. 

When the Austrians took Valevo, they im- 
agined that the Serbian resistance was broken, 
and they rejoiced. Vienna was illuminated, and 
general Potiorek, the commander of the troops, 
was decorated with an Order specially created 
for that occasion. But their jubilation was pre- 
mature, and the real fight had yet to be fought. 
On the Rudnik hills the Serbians disputed every 
inch of territory, and the Austrian army paid 
dearly for every tactical success. A hundred 
snow-white hills were stained crimson ; a hundred 
streams ran with blood; but the Serbians could 
not be defeated. Dispersed over a front 250 kilo- 
metres long, they avoided a fixed battle, but 
adopted tactics calculated to exhaust the enemy, 
retiring always before a direct engagement. 

Such tactics had their drawbacks, for the Aus- 
trians penetrated farther and farther into the 
country, and soon they arrived at the watershed 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 127 

of the Kolubara and Morava. Their goal now 
seemed to be at hand, and definite success, in the 
occupation of Kraguevac and the whole valley of 
Morava seemed certain. 

But the greatest danger for Serbia was the loss 
of faith in the value of further resistance, and 
such doubts began to contaminate the rank and 
file of the Serbian army like a contagious disease. 
Happily, the contagion was not general, as the 
headquarters staff worked miracles, doing every- 
thing humanly possible to organize resistance and 
assure ultimate victory. 

The Serbian headquarters were aware that the 
Austrian army, notwithstanding its apparent suc- 
cess, was beginning to show signs of disintegra- 
tion and the utmost exhaustion. In every contest, 
whenever they met in equal numbers, the Austro- 
Hungarians were beaten, and surrendered very 
willingly. In climbing the Rudnik hills the enemy 
lost all his energy and vigor. The Serbian head- 
quarters believed that the right moment for a 
decisive blow was at hand, but they recognized 
the great difficulty of doing anything with their 
small army, which was dispersed in a thin line 
over a very long front. After deep consideration 
they resolved to abandon the watershed of the 
Suvobor, Rayac, Prostruga and Golubac, and to 
concentrate the army further south, on the hills 
surrounding the village of Takovo, which formed 
the watershed between the Dicina and the Oemer- 
nica, a tributary of the Morava. 

Some people were alarmed at the decision, as 



128 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the retreat was risky. It opened up the valley 
of the Morava, and formed a direct menace to 
Kraguevac. However, guided only by a sound 
principle of strategy, headquarters cast aside all 
other considerations, and advanced straight to 
victory. 

At the same time headquarters carried out one 
still more important decision. In order to shorten 
the northern front, and to reinforce the first army 
which had to deliver the most decisive blow, they 
ordered the evacuation of Belgrade. This last 
decision was taken with heavy heart, because the 
gallant defense of Belgrade was the pride of the 
army and the nation. But it proved a most effec- 
tive trap into which the enemy fell quite blindly. 

The Austrians, like the Germans, have proved 
absolutely unable to understand the psychology 
of their adversaries. At the beginning they 
believed that the Serbians would not dare to 
resist, and the occupation of Belgrade would be a 
pleasant military walk. Impressed by the stub- 
born and effective defense of Belgrade, later on 
they believed that Belgrade was impregnable, as 
the Serbs defended it to their last man. Now, 
finding the gates of Belgrade thrown open before 
them, they at once imagined that the Serbian re- 
sistance was finally broken and waiting only for 
the last coup de grace. The Austrians wanted to 
complete their invasion of Serbia by a master 
stroke of strategy. They threw precaution to the 
winds and began, in full view of the enemy, a 
most dangerous enveloping movement. Before 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 129 

making an advance from the west, they wished 
to strengthen their position in the valley of the 
lower Morava in order to cut the retreat of the 
Serbians to Nish by driving them up to the rocky 
fastnesses of the mountain of Kopaonick, or else 
to oblige them to surrender. In the execution of 
this plan they weakened their western front by 
transferring large forces through Belgrade down 
to the lower Morava. Serbian headquarters 
quickly took advantage of the enemy's mistake. 
General Misic, who was second in command to 
field-marshal Putnik, was appointed commander 
of the First army, and was ordered to lead the 
attack as soon as the necessary ammunition 
should arrive from the allies. 

The general offensive took place on the 3rd of 
December and met with brilliant results. The 
enemy was taken completely by surprise. The 
Austro-Hungarians never supposed that the Ser- 
bians, who had been retreating for a whole month, 
would recover sufficient energy and courage to 
attack them. They failed to take full advantage 
of their strong position in the hills, and their 
artillery played a very ineffective part. They 
were attacked both on the front and on the wings 
very vigorously, whilst the Serbian artillery, 
which shelled them simultaneously in the front 
and the rear, worked such terrible havoc that the 
enemy believed that the Serbian forces had been 
increased tenfold. 

In spite of their superior numbers their lines 
were shaken, and after ten hours of most desper- 



130 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

ate resistance, they began to retreat, hoping for 
better luck next day. But the Serbian army, fired 
by this long expected success, gave them no re- 
spite. The Serbian attack next day proved to be 
most vigorous. The troops surpassed themselves 
in courage and impetuosity. There was not a unit 
or an officer who did not distinguish himself. The 
Austrians, leaving 1000 dead and wounded, hastily 
retired to the line Suvobor-Rayac-Prostruga, 
where they had stationed some heavy guns. But 
their efforts were all in vain. The Serbian in- 
fantry, working in cooperation with their very 
effective artillery, proved irresistible, and the 
enemy was defeated after a few hours' fighting. 
The 15th and 16th Austrian army corps were 
badly beaten and completely demoralized. During 
these first three days the Serbians took over 5000 
prisoners, and many thousands of the enemy re- 
mained on the battlefield dead or wounded. 

This almost miraculous resuscitation poured 
new life into the Serbian army and revealed the 
extent of its latent strength. By the complete 
and harmonious cooperation of all their forces, the 
Serbians dealt the enemy a crushing blow without 
much loss of life on their own side. The com- 
manders of the different units expressed their 
thanks for the harmonious cooperation of the 
commanders on their wings. The infantry was 
full of praise of the artillery, and the gunners 
could not find words to express their admiration 
for the impetuosity and irresistible onset of the 
infantry. 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 131 

The victory was complete, but general Misic 
knew how to utilize it to the full. It was in vain 
that the Austrian rearguards, after the third day, 
attempted resistance, for before the enemy's in- 
fantry could deploy for fighting in a new position, 
the Serbian artillery began to shell their lines, 
and the Serbian infantry to creep beneath the 
enemy's batteries. The Austro-Hungarian resist- 
ance was broken before it had already begun. 
Fighting had turned into mere pursuit. The other 
Serbian armies to the north and the south ad- 
vanced simultaneously, and the whole of the 
enemy's front, 250 kilometres long, was smashed 
in and the center seized. 

In a headlong retreat the Austro-Hungarians 
fled panic-stricken, abandoning their transport 
and wounded, throwing away their rifles and am- 
munition, killing their horses, and leaving motor- 
cars and guns. In some instances they had had 
time to burn the automobiles and to bury the guns, 
leaving only the empty limbers. 

Valevo, whose capture was celebrated through- 
out the Dual monarchy, was abandoned after two 
hours' resistance by some Magyar regiments. The 
Austro-Hungarians fled towards the Save and 
Drina without the least attempt at resistance. 
Sometimes a Serbian company would chase whole 
regiments single-handed, mowing them down 
without any loss to themselves. The enemy was 
glad to escape or to surrender. 

After several bloody encounters on the slopes 
of the Kosmay and Avala hills, the Austrians 



132 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

were beaten also at Belgrade, and the Serbian 
capital was retaken on December 15th, after hav- 
ing remained thirteen days in possession of the 
enemy. This completed the rout of the enemy's 
forces and crowned the Serbian success. These 
operations on the Belgrade front were conducted 
personally by the old maker of victories — Vojvoda 
Putnik and his able assistant, colonel Pavlovic. 
Following the victorious Serbs, I reached Save 
while the last cannons were still roaring round 
Belgrade. One would have to possess the pen of 
a Dickens or a Tolstoy to be able to describe ade- 
quately the awful scenes entailed by the Austro- 
Hungarian retreat. Wherever I passed, from 
Suvobor, all the way down to Valevo, and further 
on towards the Save, the roads were littered with 
the corpses and the pitiful debris of the Austro- 
Hungarian army. 

In ten days the Serbian victory over five 
Austrian army corps was complete. Since the 
days when Scipio saved Rome from Hannibal, or 
when England destroyed the might of Spain, the 
world has never seen such a spectacle, and never 
has victory been more deserved. General Misic 
was promoted to the rank of field-marshal, a title 
which has never been better merited, and never 
more modestly carried. His greatness consisted 
in that he preserved faith amid the general con- 
sternation. He remained cool-headed when many 
in the army lost their heads. Like all great sol- 
diers, he possessed the gift of conquering the wills 
and hearts of his men, and of inspiring them with 



SERBIA IN, THE WORLD WAR 133 

new ardor and with the fullest confidence in his 
leadership. He chose the right moment for his 
blow, and having prepared it thoughtfully, he 
struck so masterfully that the huge Austrian army 
shook and cracked like an old building shaken by 
a mighty earthquake. 

By a strange freak of destiny Serbia's misfor- 
tunes would not have been so great had not the 
Serbian victory been so vast and thorough. The 
enormous number of sick war prisoners for whom 
Serbia had no special accommodations were sent 
to different towns and villages. They brought 
contagious diseases into Serbia, which spread 
throughout the country and cost thousands and 
thousands of lives. Over 30 per cent of the Ser- 
bian doctors fell victims to the spotted fever and 
other diseases while fighting against them. Many 
foreign doctors and nurses died also, sacrificing 
their noble lives on Serbian soil for the sake of 
the unity of the Serbian race and for the liberties 
of nations. 

The position of the Austro-Hungarian army 
corps during the last engagements with Serbia 
was as follows: 

The 17th army corps recently composed, formed 
the right wing, and operated on the front Uzice- 
Suvobor; the 16th army corps on the line Suvo- 
bor-Rayac-Prostruga ; the 15th along the river 
Lig; the 13th and the 8th farther north, along the 
Kolubara, and parts of the 9th army corps and 
general Krauss's detachment, composed mostly 
of parts of the 4th army corps, operated along 



134 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the Save round Belgrade. All the units at the 
beginning of November were brought up to 
normal strength. Thus the 16th army corps 
had exactly seventy-two battalions — about 75,000 
rifles — but the newly combined 17th army corps 
was considered to be the strongest. The others 
were somewhat smaller. The number of rifles 
exceeded 320,000, besides artillery and cavalry. 

Taking into account the number of army 
corps employed against Serbia, together with 
the repeated reinforcements they received, it is 
evident that Austria-Hungary lost very heavily. 
Bringing all her resources into action, she em- 
ployed in defensive and offensive action against 
Serbia at least 600,000 men, and straining her 
troops to the last limit of human endurance, she 
sustained appalling losses. 

It has leaked out from Budapest 1 that before 
the middle of October, according to official re- 
ports, Austria-Hungary lost in the Serbian theater 
of war 148,000 men. The number was even 
greater during the operations in Serbia in Novem- 
ber, 1914, when Austria-Hungary undoubtedly 
lost more than half her men. Her losses after the 
1st of November, 1914, certainly reached 180,000 
in sick, wounded, killed and prisoners, which 
makes a total loss of 330,000 men, of which 68,900 
were prisoners. 

Besides, Serbia captured 4 flags, 192 guns of 
different caliber, 31 limbers, whose guns were 
buried or destroyed, 491 carloads of ammunition, 

i The Morning Post, November 18th, 1914. 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 135 

86 machine-guns, 90,000 rifles, 4000 horses, and 
much other material. 

The Serbs thus captured men and material 
sufficient to form two complete army corps. Of 
particular value to them were the mountain 
howitzers, which they lacked altogether, and 
machine-guns, of which they had not a sufficient 
quantity. 

Austria-Hungary sustained these enormous 
losses without achieving any results. The Ser- 
bian army remained ready for a new struggle. If 
the Serbs were diminished in numbers, their 
morale was higher than ever. There was no 
Austro-Hungarian general who could undertake 
a new offensive in Serbia without an army 
400,000 strong. But she could not send such an 
army without compromising her chance of suc- 
cess in Galicia. 

She committed the grave fault of underestimat- 
ing her enemy, attacking him with inadequate 
forces, thus losing more and achieving nothing. 
Serbia may, with legitimate pride, look back at 
her achievements and the service done for the 
common cause. She had riveted on her battle- 
fields enormous forces of the common foe, and 
had already annihilated forces nearly equaling her 
total strength. 

Of course, such results could only have been 
achieved by the intelligent and patriotic action of 
the self-sacrificing Serbian officers. The appall- 
ing list of dead and wounded officers is the best 
evidence of how they fulfilled their duty, and how 



136 SOUTH-EASTERN fcUROPE 

much they have deserved of the Fatherland. But 
the real and everlasting glory belongs to the Ser- 
bian peasant soldiers, who, after a war that had 
lasted for twenty-seven months, after trials and 
hardships unheard of among other European 
armies, after sustaining great losses of men and 
materiel, still found the strength to rise from the 
depths of despair and to shatter the overwhelming 
forces of a well-equipped and disciplined enemy. 
Only the passing of two or three centuries are 
needed to make the glorious heroism of the Ser- 
bian soldiers stand out as a legend to the genera- 
tions that are to come. They will scarce be able 
to believe what we all have witnessed. 

111. — The Crushing of Serbia 

After the German success in Russia during the 
summer of 1915, Germany, realizing the full im- 
portance of the Balkan front, turned her attention 
to the south and decided upon an offensive against 
Serbia. Having no trust in Austrian forces or 
leadership and perfectly aware of the resistance 
Serbia would offer, this time the new army of in- 
vasion consisted mainly of German troops and 
its command was intrusted to Mackensen, de- 
cidedly one of the ablest German generals. On 
their part the Entente Powers were misguided in 
their Balkan policy and totally failed to grasp 
the situation. Instead of reinforcing the Serbian 
front as the best means of inducing Roumania and 
Greece to side with the Allies and of preventing 
Bulgaria from joining the Central Powers, their 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 137 

diplomacy began the fruitless negotiations with 
Bulgaria which only accelerated the German offen- 
sive and the terrible disaster which befell Serbia. 
In September, 1915, the Austro-German forces 
under the command of field-marshal Mackensen 
were massed on the Serbian front along the Save 
and the Danube. Meanwhile the negotiations 
undertaken by the diplomacy of the Entente 
Powers with Bulgaria were protracted without 
leading to any result. Bulgaria played her 
double game very adroitly. She could not move 
before the Austro-German forces were ready for 
cooperation with her. On the 19th of September 
the Germans opened the bombardment of the Ser- 
bian front. Four days later, on the 23rd of Sep- 
tember, Bulgaria ordered the general mobiliza- 
tion. The Serbian headquarters entertained no 
doubt concerning the objective of the Bulgarian 
military action. With an enormous front some 
320 miles in length towards Bulgaria, with her 
main line of communication Nish-Salonica within 
reach of the first successful Bulgarian raid, Ser- 
bia's military position was extremely dangerous. 
The only chance to improve it was quick, energetic 
action against Bulgaria. The Serbian headquar- 
ters did not expect by such a move to conquer 
Bulgaria or to annihilate her army completely, 
but they rightly judged that it would hinder the 
Bulgarian mobilization in the western districts, 
and by occupation of* some important centers it 
might cripple her forces considerably and greatly 
hamper her action. In that way the enemy's 



138 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

victory might be delayed, and by gaining some 
weeks the Allies might fulfill their promise of 
assisting Serbia. The Serbian population and 
army might have retreated to the south, using 
the railway line Nish-Salonica, which would have 
saved many thousands of lives and enormous 
quantities of war materiel. With this object in 
view the Serbian headquarters ordered a new 
concentration of the army along the Serbo-Bul- 
garian frontier. But the diplomacy of the Entente 
Powers allowed itself to be the perfect dupe of 
Bulgaria. Fearing that the Serbian action might 
spoil its cherished play at Sofia, it brought strong 
pressure to bear upon the Serbian government, 
which prevented the Serbian military action 
against Bulgaria. Since that moment Serbia was 
doomed, the crushing of her army by the united 
Bulgaro-Austro-German forces was inevitable, 
and her population was exposed to fearful suffer- 
ings and privations unparalleled in modern times. 

But to the eternal glory of Serbia, even in the 
moment of such supreme danger, she organized 
her small forces as best she could, and offered a 
resistance which, better than any victory could, 
speaks of the indomitable spirit of the Serbs. 

At the end of September, 1915, the Austro- 
German forces were disposed along the Danube 
and the Save in the following way : 

Opposite the Serbian front Ram-Smederevo- 
Grocka was the army of general Galwitz, consist- 
ing of nine German divisions. Against the front 
Grocka-Belgrade-Ostruznica were two German 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 139 

and two Austrian divisions. From Obrenovac to 
the mouth of the Drina was the 19th Austrian 
army corps, with some detached brigades along 
the Drina. That whole army numbered 111 Ger- 
man and 53 Austrian battalions. 

To oppose them the Serbians could concentrate 
on the northern front only 116 battalions, of which 
40 battalions belonged to the third ban. The re- 
maining troops were engaged on the Serbo-Bul- 
garian frontier. Besides outnumbering the Serbs 
by three to two in the infantry, the Austro-Ger- 
man division disposed of two regiments of artil- 
lery, but especially in heavy artillery their advan- 
tage over the Serbian troops was enormous. 

On October 6th the Austro-Germans, after 
heavy artillery preparation from pieces of every 
caliber, and without sparing ammunition, began 
the crossing of the Drina, the Save and the 
Danube. Bloody encounters took place at 
Obrenovac, Ostruznica, Belgrade, Smederevo and 
Ram. At all these places the first enemy's de- 
tachments, after having succeeded in crossing the 
rivers, were annihilated before being able to se- 
cure a footing or to develop their front. Only 
after seven days of incessant battle of the most 
stubborn character did the enemy succeed in 
forcing the rivers. The weight of his heavy guns 
was telling, the English, French and Russian bat- 
teries of heavy artillery defending Belgrade were 
silenced on the first day and their ramparts shat- 
tered to dust, thus leaving the whole burden of 
defense upon the Serbian infantry. Notwith- 



140 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

standing all this, the defense was splendid and 
called forth the admiration of German correspond- 
ents in the enemy 's army. The enemy suffered very 
heavy losses, and was only able to advance owing 
to his numbers, which outflanked the Serbian 
positions and pounded to pieces Serbian defensive 
works. But every new position was fully taken 
advantage of by the Serbians, who retreated con- 
testing every inch and ceding only inch by inch 
their territory. 

On the 14th of October the Bulgarians, repeat- 
ing their treachery of 1913, attacked the Serbians 
on the entire front without previously declaring 
war. The Bulgars had concentrated against Ser- 
bia seven divisions, each consisting of six regi- 
ments and one brigade, of infantry, in all 176 
battalions of infantry; whereas Serbia was only 
able to oppose them with 78 battalions. In spite 
of being so greatly outnumbered the Serbians 
offered stubborn resistance, and every retreat of 
the Serbs on the Bulgarian front was caused by 
the pressure of the Austro-Germans. Thus on the 
river Timok during twelve days from 13th to 24th 
October, the Bulgarians penetrated only one and 
a half miles into Serbian territory, all their at- 
tacks being bloodily repulsed. But when Austro- 
Germans penetrated deeper to the south, the 
Serbs ordered the evacuation of Negotin, Zaecar 
and Knazevac. In the direction of the valley of 
the Nishava the Serbians and the Bulgarians had 
nearly equal forces, therefore all Bulgarian at- 
tacks were very costly and fruitless. Nowhere 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 141 

were the Bulgars able to dislodge the Serbs by 
their own forces; these were obliged to retreat 
before the Bulgars in view of the situation on the 
other fronts. 

On the southern part of their front the Bulgars 
attacked the Serbs on the front of Vlassina, east 
of Vrana, with sixteen battalions, where the Serbs 
had only four or five battalions. They penetrated 
into the valley of the Morava, but their advance 
was stopped. Further south the Serbs had only 
two newly organized divisions, whose battalions 
had no more than 600 rifles with very small num- 
bers of machine-guns and artillery pieces. The 
Bulgars had there four brigades belonging to the 
5th and 7th divisions and parts of the 2nd and 
11th divisions. Therefore their advance to 
Skoplje and Veles could not be prevented, and 
they occupied both towns after much sanguinary 
fighting. The Bulgars sent strong "numbers to 
Kacanik Pass and to Karadag, but their advance 
was stopped there, until circumstances on the 
other front obliged the Serbs to abandon those 
positions also. 

Always fighting and retreating until the end 
of October, the Serbians entertained the hope 
that the British and French troops would arrive 
in time, and in joining with the Serbian army 
would be able to frustrate all enemy schemes. Not 
only were the military operations influenced by 
this hope, but the Serbian population also re- 
mained calm until the last moment, and very few 
took any measures to protect their lives or to save 



142 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

a portion of their property by escaping to Greece 
and allied countries. 

In the first days of November the Serbian 
headquarters became aware that the Allied con- 
tingents would not be able to join the Serbian 
army north of Skoplje, therefore the higher com- 
mand resolved to abandon the northern front 
altogether, and always fighting, to retreat to the 
south, in order to join the Allies and continue the 
resistance. The Serbian army, pressed by over- 
whelming enemy forces, had to execute the pas- 
sage over the Western and Southern Morava, and 
these movements were executed by both armies 
without leaving either men or materiel in enemies ' 
hands. Simultaneously the northern army took 
the front Cacak-Kralevo-Krusevac-Stalac on the 
south bank of the Western Morava. The divisions 
opposing the Bulgars took the front Stalac-Pro- 
kuple-Leskovac on the western bank of the South- 
ern Morava. 

The Bulgars, by being in possession of the 
passes Koncul and Kacanik, cut off the communi- 
cation of the Serbian army with the Allies, who by 
now had reached Krivolak, on the railway line 
Skoplje-Salonica. In order to join the Allies and 
beat the Bulgarian forces occupying the passes, 
it was necessary to extricate the Serbian army 
from both the valleys of the Southern and West- 
ern Morava. This was executed in spite of enor- 
mous difficulties, having only two traversable 
roads for the retreat of the entire army. The 
roads, Kralevo-Raska-Mitrovica and Krusevac- 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 143 

Blace-Kursumlia-Pristina. The second army in 
retreating from Prokuple had to take the same 
road Kursumlia-Pristina, and was in great danger 
of being cut off by the advance of the Austro- 
Germans in the direction Krusevac-Blace-Kur- 
sumlia. The situation was saved by a bold attack 
of the Serbian 3rd army in the flank of the enemy, 
but the retreat was continued under the heaviest 
pressure of the enemy. 

But still headquarters was able to concentrate 
five divisions and two brigades against the Bul- 
gars for the battle for the possession of the passes. 
With these forces, the Serbs attacked the Bulgars 
on the front Novo Brdo-Kacanik. The main 
enemy positions were on the Velika Planina and 
£egovac mountains. In fierce battles from 17th 
to 21st November, the Serbs took the 2egovac 
mountain, and their operations against Velika 
Planina were also very successful. The Bulgars 
were in a rather critical situation and began to 
give way on the northern portion of the front. 
Everything pointed to the complete success of the 
Kacanik operation, if the Serbs had had time to 
develop their advantage. But again the pressure 
of the Austro-Germans was brought to bear upon 
the whole military situation. On the 21st of No- 
vember the Austro-Germans were already in the 
possession of the Prepolac, and were attacking 
the Serbs defending the Tenedol pass on the road 
to Pristina. To be in safety, the Serbian army 
would have not only to beat the Bulgars at Kaca- 
nik, but also to drive them beyond Skoplje. Such 



144 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

an operation would have required time, whereas 
the occupation of Pristina by the enemy would 
have completely isolated the Serbian forces oper- 
ating against the Bulgars. Therefore the whole 
operation was abandoned. But still the Serbian 
successes on the Kacanik front enabled them to 
retire on the left bank of the Sitnica river unmo- 
lested by the enemy, and without leaving in his 
hands either arms or ammunition. 

Thus the Serbs definitely failed to join the 
Allies, who, being small in numbers, were unable 
to push further than Krivolack, and soon were 
obliged to beat a retreat. It was on the memor- 
able Kossovo Pole that the Serbian army and 
nation realized that the great tragedy of her his- 
tory was to be repeated once again. The curtain 
rose upon the last act of the Serbian tragedy. 
Fate had yet some fearful sufferings in store for 
them. In 1915, as in 1389, on the eve of the 
battle of Kossovo, the Serbian king and nation 
were forced to choose between the Kingdom of 
Heaven and Earth; to make peace with the he- 
reditary foes and to betray the noble cause of 
European freedom and liberty for which they had 
fought so long. Now, as then, the Serbs did not 
hesitate. They preferred honor and martyrdom 
to shameful peace and treason. Like true heroes 
of Kossovo, without fear or reproach they had 
accepted battle on a front 800 miles long, and for 
two months they had kept in abeyance the over- 
Whelming forces of three military states single- 
handed. Ail ally — Greece — betrayed them; the 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 145 

others, through blunders, were unable to come in 
time to be of assistance. The struggle was in 
vain, and the Serbian state, which had resulted 
from so much fighting and noble self-sacrifice, was 
crushed by a shameful coalition of its old-time 
foes and by the treacherous connivance of an ally. 

But there remained the Serbian nation, and its 
army. In leaving the fertile plains of Morava and 
the lovely hills of Sumadia, they saw before them, 
rising like an awful menace, the barren, inhos- 
pitable Albanian mountains, where unspeakable 
hardships awaited them, cold, starvation and 
death. Unflinchingly they drank the bitter cup 
of humiliation and disaster to the dregs. Their 
country is again invaded by the same haughty 
hereditary foe. Serbia's children are again scat- 
tered over the world, and their mothers and sis- 
ters outraged by brutal conquerors. 

No words can depict the terrible physical pains 
and moral agony which the Serbs underwent in 
their retreat through Albania. It was not the 
retreat of an army, but the exodus of a nation. 
To the fearful sufferings and privation was added 
the bitter thought that all this was unnecessary, 
that the present tragedy was not so much, as in 
1389, the result of inevitable circumstances as the 
result of some grave blunderings in the cabinets 
of the diplomats. Had the Allies, after a year of 
fighting, realized the importance of the Balkan 
theater of war, and had they reinforced the Ser- 
bian front with only 150,000 men, before begin- 
ning the fatal negotiations with Bulgaria, the Ser- 



146 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

bian tragedy would never have taken place. Bul- 
garia would probably never have dared to side 
with the enemy. Greece would not have betrayed 
Serbia, and Roumania would have entered the war 
many months before. How many thousands of 
noble lives would have been spared, and how many 
millions of national wealth would not have been 
wasted in making good the mistakes of those who 
sometimes place personal prejudices before the 
greatest interest of the nations? 

Rut still, in such a terrible situation the Serbian 
headquarters did not lose its head. When further 
resistance on the Serbian soil was impossible, 
they set up the task of withdrawing as many of 
the troops as possible. That task was accom- 
plished, and only those who were in the retreat 
with the Serbian army through Albania can wit- 
ness what a hell it was. 

A painful operation was to be performed before 
climbing the black Montenegrin and bare Albanian 
mountains. Retiring always under the enemy's 
pressure, ceaselessly fighting on every advanta- 
geous position, the Serbian soldiers were terribly 
exhausted, and their ammunition was nearing its 
end. As it was impossible to take them over goat- 
tracks, the heavy cars and field-guns were de- 
stroyed in the sight of the soldiers, who regarded 
them as the real protectors of their lives and their 
only guarantee of any success against the enemy. 
The whole army train was arranged to be carried 
on horseback and made as light as possible. Every- 
thing that was not strictly necessary was thrown 



SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR 147 

away or destroyed. Only an army possessing 
superhuman endurance and unconquerable spirit 
could perform such things and not cease to exist 
altogether. But the time-honored ideal of a free 
and united country was living in those martyr 
soldiers, and it gave them strength to pass 
through the Albanian hell to new life and activity, 
which they are manifesting splendidly in the re- 
cent fighting on the Macedonian front. 

For all those who took part in the retreat 
through Albania, the memory of those days will 
be as an evil dream that will haunt them to the 
end of their lives, an evil dream of human misery 
and pitiful helplessness against a merciless fate. 
Those who are more interested in it will find a 
better and fuller description in the stirring pages 
of some Americans who retreated with the Serbs, 
and tried to give a picture of their hardships, 
their endurance, their pitiless death from hunger, 
cold and exhaustion; of the roads, made practic- 
able over countless corpses of oxen and horses 
sunk in the treacherous swamps along the sea- 
coasts ; of the human corpses half buried in snow, 
their legs protruding gruesomely, with their calves 
cut off whilst they were still alive by some more 
miserable companion, driven mad by suffering, in 
order to satisfy his hunger. 

But even these sufferings did a good service to 
the Allied cause. The Serbian army, having re- 
tired into the Albanian mountains, put the enemy, 
who were pressing on its heels, in the same dis- 
advantageous position as it had been. The enemy 



148 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

was able to conquer Serbia thanks only to its all- 
powerful artillery. In Albania it was of no use, 
therefore he slackened his pursuit and dared not 
attack. That gave the Allies time to reinforce 
the Salonica front, and by fortifying it to make 
their position impregnable. This fact has surely 
played a decisive part in creating a new situation 
in the Balkans favorable to the Allies. Had the 
Serbs, instead of retreating over Albania, taken 
the direction of Salonica, the situation for the 
Allies would be far worse. The Austro-Germans, 
reinforced by the Bulgars, would have quickly 
followed them with a force half a million strong, 
would have swept them from Greek territory. 
Salonica most probably would have passed into 
the Austro-German-Bulgarians ' hands, and the 
Balkan situation would have been irretrievably 
lost for the Allies. 

The royal family, also in this wholesale suffer- 
ing, shared unreservedly the lot of the Serbian 
army and nation. Old king Peter, broken down 
by age and sickness, delayed his retreat to the 
last moment, and shared his bread and shelter 
with the common soldiers. The Prince Regent 
Alexander, exhausted by fatigue and mental 
effort, never parted from his troops. His noble 
courage and devotion to the nation did much for 
the rebirth of the Serbian army, whose deeds on 
the Monastir front speak better than any words 
of mine for its valor and devotion to the common 
cause. 



yn 

THE PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 

THE future peace conference will have to 
solve many difficult and complicated prob- 
lems, and among them the problem of the 
Adriatic is the most delicate one, and pregnant 
with far-reaching consequences. Upon the just 
and fair solution of that problem depends the 
happiness of the next generation of two gifted 
nations, the Italians and the Southern Slavs, and 
the future peace between the Latin and the Slav 
worlds. Here, if anywhere, the factors which in 
the past have led to war must be eliminated, unless 
the bright hopes of humanity are to end in bitter 
disappointment, the vision of enduring peace 
vanish like a fairy dream, and Europe is again 
to be confronted with the ugly reality of ever- 
contending imperialism of different states and 
races. 

Italy, by intervening in the present war on the 
side of the Allies, was able to promote and to 
secure the realizations of views upon the Adriatic 
which her statesmen claimed to be the guarantee 
and the. safeguard of Italian interests in the Adri- 
atic. I do not pretend to know what is the agree- 
ment concerning the Adriatic arrived at between 
the powers of the quadruple Entente, but I am 

149 



150 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

convinced that no decision of the cabinets can 
oppose for long the living forces which determine 
the political and economic life of the European 
nations. If the agreement concerning the future 
of the coasts of the Adriatic arrived at between 
the Allies be just, and in harmony with the vital 
interests of the parties primarily concerned, it 
will endure and be productive of beneficent con- 
sequences. If it be one-sided and prejudical to 
the vital interests of the most-concerned parties, 
it will stand for some time, causing permanent 
irritation and friction, until it breaks out in new 
and sanguinary complications. But the Southern 
Slavs denounce such a procedure as being in evi- 
dent contradiction with the principles of democ- 
racy — the bargain being accomplished without 
taking into account the wishes and aspirations 
of the people of those provinces. They rightly 
hope that the people and the government of the 
United States will use all their mighty influence to 
bring all former conventions arrived at between 
the European Allies into harmony with the lofty 
principles for which they entered the war. The 
new democracy in Russia is already raising its 
voice with that object in view. 

Every student of the European situation knows 
perfectly well that Italy had nothing to gain and 
everything to fear from the German victory. For 
Italy, as for Great Britain and France, the pres- 
ent war ought to have a strictly defensive char- 
acter ; they are fighting not to increase their pos- 
sessions, but to assure and defend their position, 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 151 

and to be able to continue the peaceful evolution 
of their political, economic, and social institutions. 
We must give the credit to the Italian statesmen 
that from the very outset of the present crisis 
they clearly saw on which side the interest of 
Italy was to be found. To Italy's honor, it took 
the side of liberty and democracy in Europe. The 
Teutonic victory would have placed Italy in the 
same position towards Austria-Hungary as Ser- 
bia occupied before the present crisis arose. Italy 
would be constantly menaced and bullied by 
Austria-Hungary, besides being in danger of los- 
ing Venice, which is claimed by Germany as an 
outlet on the Mediterranean. Therefore it was to 
the paramount interest of Italy to frustrate the 
possibility of a Teutonic victory in Europe. The 
preservation and strengthening of the liberties of 
Europe was a sufficient inducement for Italy to 
intervene on the side of the Allies. But an equally 
strong, and perhaps more popular, inducement 
for Italy to intervene was the achievement of na- 
tional unity, the liberation of kinsfolk from the 
Austrian domination, and the improvement of her 
stragetic position in the Adriatic. 

Every one must be in sympathy with the 
rightful aspiration of the Italians towards the 
achievement of their national unity, and with her 
securing such frontiers as to be protected from 
the everlasting threat of a foreign invasion, as 
was the case until now as regards her frontier in 
south Tyrol. 

But the achievement of Italian national unit^ 



152 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and the claims to obtain for Italy certain strate- 
gical frontiers, if pushed to extremes, will clash 
with the not less rightful claims and aspirations 
of the Southern Slavs for their national unity and 
the free development of their economic and com- 
mercial resources. Already the German papers 
have with joy announced the irreconcilable an- 
tagonism between Italian and Slavic interests on 
the shores of the Adriatic, and given their public 
to understand that in this quarter and direction 
lie the hopes of German expansion to the Medi- 
terranean. Hence the fears of a possible misun- 
derstanding between both nations, and the neces- 
sity of a mutual agreement for friendly coopera- 
tion in the Adriatic. 

A fair compromise and a friendly agreement 
between Italy and her Slav neighbor is a necessity 
for both of them as well as for the future peace 
of Europe. Italy can achieve that if she is to 
follow her loftiest traditions and to listen to the 
advice and counsel of her best brains and patriots 
as to her real interests. 

The American public can do much in this matter. 
The United States are the staunch and proved 
friend of Italy ; they have also greeted with much 
sympathy the solution of the Southern Slav ques- 
tion on the basis of ethnographic unity and self- 
government. Nobody is better entitled to give 
to both nations the impartial counsel of modera- 
tion and wisdom, and nobody's advice, if so 
given, will be received more readily than that of 
this country. To be able to raise their mighty 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 153 

voice, the American public must take some pa- 
tience to grasp and understand all the necessary- 
facts concerning the position of both nations in 
the Adriatic. 

The Adriatic coast now belonging to Austria- 
Hungary, and where meet the interests of the 
Italians and the Serbo-Croats, are : Dalmatia, to- 
gether with the Dalmatian archipelago, Istria, 
Trieste, and Goritzia, with the naval port of Pola. 
As regards the nationality of the population of 
these provinces the following numbers (see the 
official Austro-Hungarian statistics of 1910) will 
give the best illustration : 





Superficial 
Area, kms. 


Italians 


Slavs 


Germans 


Total 


Dalmatia 


. . 12,840 


18,028 


612,669 


3,081 


633,778 




. . 4,956 


145,517 


224,400 


12,735 


382,652 


Trieste . . 


95 


118,959 


59,974 


11,870 


190,808 


Goritzia . 


. . 2,918 


90,119 


155,039 


4,500 


249,658 



Total . . . 20,809 372,623 1,052,082 32,186 1,456,891 

Following up the fallacious and the most dan- 
gerous theory of strong strategic frontiers, a very 
considerable and influential part of Italian public 
opinion has formulated a vast programme for in- 
corporation in the kingdom of Italy of nearly all 
the Adriatic provinces lying on the opposite shore 
of the Adriatic. Italian statesmen have for a long 
time past expressed the view that Italy having 
a paramount interest in the Adriatic, that sea 
ought to become a closed Italian lake. The pres- 
ent European crisis, coupled with permanent 
anarchy in Albania, offered a good opportunity 



154 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

for Italy to realize that view, and already, in 
October, 1914, Italy occupied Valona, which port, 
with Brindisi on the Italian shore, completely 
commands the entrance into the Adriatic. Thus 
the idea has been propounded that the natural and 
strongly strategic frontier for Italy is formed by 
the ridge of the Julian Alps, which descends from 
the Tyrol to the Adriatic, forming the watershed 
between the Adriatic and the Danube. Thus, in 
obtaining that line for her eastern frontier, the 
kingdom of Italy would incorporate the following 
Austro-Hungarian provinces: Goritzia, Carniola, 
Trieste, Istria, the north-western districts of 
northern Dalmatia, with all the islands of the 
Dalmatian archipelago. In such a way Italy 
would have for her subjects a dense and homo- 
geneous population of the Southern Slavs num- 
bering about one million people. 

In propounding such views, and striving to im- 
pose such a policy upon the Italian government, 
the Italian press writers argue as follows: 

(1) The Adriatic is an Italian sea, and, accord- 
ingly, Italy must possess or control all its coasts. 

(2) Italy possesses historical claims to those 
provinces, as some of them belonged for a time 
to the Venetian republic. The history of Venice 
forms one of the brighest pages of Italian history. 
Italy being the rightful heir to Venice must renew 
the glory of the Italian reign in the Adriatic. 

(3) Italy also possesses ethnographic claims 
upon those provinces as they contain a large 
Italian population. Therefore, in order to achieve 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 155 

her national unity, Italy must incorporate those 
provinces. 

(4) Italy, for reasons of military efficiency, 
must have a strong natural frontier against her 
new Slavic neighbor. 

(5) The last, but perhaps not the least, argu- 
ment for the Italian occupation of the opposite 
coast of the Adriatic was the fear lest Russia 
should seize the future Serbian ports of the 
Adriatic, and thus threaten the security of Italy. 

The issues involved in the just solution of the 
problem of the Adriatic are of such tremendous 
importance, not only for Italians and Serbians, 
but also for all neighboring nations, as well as 
for European peace in general, that I think no 
<apology is necessary for going at some length into 
the above arguments. 

The first contention that the Adriatic is an 
Italian sea, and must be militarily controlled by 
Italy, is a shallow piece of reasoning, whose kind 
is produced from time to time in every country 
by the heads of over-zealous patriots. In such a 
way the Germans may fairly pretend that the 
Baltic sea belongs to them, and the occupation of 
the Great and Little Belt would be a piece of jus- 
tice, and only the assertion of lawful national 
rights. To-day it is hardly possible to find any 
sound-minded people who would deny that the 
seas and oceans are vast fields given by the 
Creator in common to all nations upon the earth 
for peaceful interchange of goods and friendly re- 
lations between them. They are to stimulate their 



156 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

productive energies on the manifold field of 
human activity, artistic, economic, commercial, 
and social. It must sound like an attempt upon 
the sacred rights of all other nations if any single 
nation among them should try to appropriate a 
sea and to create of it a monopoly for her selfish 
interests. 

The argument for Italian incorporation of those 
provinces based upon ethnography must fall at 
once when we look at the numbers of the racial 
statistics. In Dalmatia, against a pure Serbo- 
Croatian population numbering 630,000, the 
Italians number only 18,000, which represents less 
than 3 per cent, of the total population. There- 
fore to base the Italian rights of occupation upon 
ethnography would be sheer absurdity. 

In Istria, Trieste, and Goritzia the Italian 
claims based upon ethnography are better 
founded, although they are not justified. In 
Istria the geographical line of ethnographical 
division can be easily drawn. The Italians are 
thickly grouped on the western coast, and the 
Croat population is found in the central and 
eastern parts of the peninsula. In Istria the Slavs 
(220,000) represent 60 per cent and Italians 
(145,500) 40 per cent of the entire population. In 
the town of Trieste the Italians (118,959), to the 
contrary, represent 66 per cent and the Slavs 
(59,974) 34 per cent of the total population. In 
Goritzia, again, as in Istria, the line of ethno- 
graphic division can be easily drawn. The Italian* 
in this province extend in the north as far as Cor- 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 157 

mons, and along the railway as far as the town of 
Goritza; in the east as far as the river Isonzo 
(Soca), and from Gradiska straight to Monfal- 
cone; a dense and homogeneous Slav population 
inhabits the whole of the rest of the province. 
In the districts of Logatec and Pastojna, in the 
southwestern Carniola, with nearly a hundred 
thousand purely Slav inhabitants, there are no 
Italians, and these districts are claimed by the 
Italians only in virtue of strategic reasons. 

Thus leaving Dalmatia and the districts of Car- 
niola out of the question, the Italian counts upon 
Istria, Trieste, and Goritzia are untenable as a 
whole. Here some compromise is necessary, and 
it could be easily effected if both sides were 
equally animated by a sincere desire for a 
peaceful settlement. 

With regard to the historical right of Italy to 
those provinces, I should say that there is 
scarcely any province in Europe belonging to any 
nation to which another nation would not have 
some historic right. The argument of historic 
right is rather an antiquated one, and better suits 
the mediaeval and dynastic Europe with her peo- 
ple ruled by monarchs whose reigns are based 
upon divine right, than the modern European de- 
mocracy in which rule is based upon popular 
consent. The historic rights have cost Europe so 
much bloodshed, suffering, and devastation that 
we may fairly suppose that this argument appeals 
but feebly to her nations. Even if it be true that 
the Venetian rule of the Adriatic represents a 



158 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

bright page in the Italian history of warlike 
achievements, it is not less true that the memory 
of the Venetian rule of the Slav coasts of the 
Adriatic also recalls to their Slavic inhabitants 
the dire days of foreign subjugation and misery. 
Those were days when their economic and com- 
mercial resources were ruthlessly exploited for 
the profit of an alien ruler, and when their man- 
hood was mercilessly employed to fight far-dis- 
tant battles for no profit to their native land and 
kinsfolk. Those were days when, with all their 
services, they were paid by economic misery and 
moral contempt, the days when Slavs were 
"Schiavi" — most despicable slaves. The memo- 
ries of those days, walking like pale ghosts on the 
other shore of the Adriatic, make, even to-day, 
the blood run quicker, fists clench themselves in- 
voluntarily, and account for so much animosity 
and misunderstanding between their mixed popu- 
lation. Let those ghosts of the past be buried 
for ever. To shine forth brightly the glory of the 
young Italy has no need of the humiliation and 
moral misery of her Slav neighbors. Against 
those historic rights of past states rises the incon- 
testable and unquestionable right of a living 
nation striving for freedom, equality, and lawful 
recognition. The whole history of those provinces 
in the past has been a long struggle against a for- 
eign yoke, and partly they have succeeded in shak- 
ing it off. The history of the free Serbo-Croatian 
republic of Dubrovnik-(Ragusa) is not only a 
bright page of their political liberty, but also a 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 159 

glorious record of Serbo-Croatian achievement in 
literature, science, and civilization. Napoleon, 
when creating the kingdom of United Italy, did 
not think for one moment of burdening her with 
alien provinces, but taking into account the char- 
acter of their population, united all these Adriatic 
provinces in the kingdom of Illyria, with the capi- 
tal at Ljubljana (Laibach). 

In modern Europe, where public opinion plays 
an important part in the policy of the states, the 
militarists of every country are walking hand in 
hand with stealthily creeping commercialism. In 
the Italy of later days, as in Germany forty years 
ago, in a comparatively short time commercialism 
as an entire new social class has sprung up, and 
with it an entire new public opinion. The combi- 
nation of military and commercial interests in 
Italy, as was the case with Germany, will surely 
weave the web of Italian destiny, and lead to most 
dangerous complications. The closer study of the 
Italian claims on the Adriatic will convince us at 
once that those claims, though announced in the 
name of military efficiency and strategic frontiers, 
are calculated to serve the interests of Italian 
commercialism, and to secure for Italy a practical 
monopoly of the whole trade in the Adriatic. Not 
only the Serbo-Croatian ports would be placed in 
Italian territorial waters, and under the command 
of the Italian guns, but the Italian territorial 
claims in northern Dalmatia are carefully calcu- 
lated to the effect to impede and hinder a possible 
new railway communication between Croatia and 



160 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

her historical ports in Dalmatia. The projected 
railway line, before reaching Splet (Spalato), 
would have to pass through Italian territory, and 
its trade would be obliged to pass to an Italian 
port. Of course the commercial development of 
the Southern Slav country would be handicapped, 
which must be a new source of antagonism and 
friction between both nations. 

Now we come to the supreme argument of the 
necessity of good strategic frontiers which urges 
Italy to occupy those provinces on the opposite 
shores of the Adriatic. The reason of strong 
strategic frontiers has always been a trump card 
in the hands of the militarists of every state and 
a constant source of friction among European 
nations. 

Every state availing itself of a temporary vic- 
tory imposed stragetic frontiers upon the defeated 
or weaker nation, to the prejudice and humiliation 
of the latter. Strategic necessity and historic 
rights tore Alsace-Lorraine away from France, 
handing it over to the yoke of the Prussian mili- 
tarists. 

Strategic reasons also impeded the accomplish- 
ment of Italian unity, leaving south Tyrol in Aus- 
trian bondage. The direct results of such policy 
have been fear and hatred, and their lawful heir 
the military burdens under which the European 
nations have labored during the last sixty years. 
How can we expect or hope that an Italian occu- 
pation of the Serbo-Croatian provinces, and the 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 161 

enslavement by her of a million of Southern Slavs, 
can give different results? It is an axiom in 
science that similar causes produce similar results. 
But if, in spite of all sincere warning, the naissant 
Italian imperialism, following blindly the teach- 
ing of German militarists, will try under the pre- 
tense of stragetic frontiers to occupy the Balkan 
lands and to keep in subjection the Slavic popu- 
lation inhabiting them, Italy will inherit the weak- 
ness of Austria and, while greatly injuring her 
Slav neighbor, will endanger her own freedom and 
the peace of Europe. The Italian militarists wish 
to occupy these lands in the name of military 
efficiency. But the security of Italy, and the prog- 
ress of the Italian democracy, will be brought into 
peril by that very worship of efficiency. From 
the adversity which, after this war, will fall upon 
the German people lies a lesson for the Italian 
imperialists. Sorely burdened by the occupation 
of an alien population, threatened by a warlike 
and united nation such as the Southern Slavs, the 
Italians would experience all the difficulties of the 
new position. It would be a burden which their 
nervous and easily excitable democracy could not, 
and would not, meekly endure. The Slavic menace 
would become a nightmare for them which could 
easily deteriorate the normal course of their eco- 
nomic, political, and social development. The in- 
born love of freedom which enabled the Serbo- 
Croats to shake off the Turkish yoke of five cen- 
turies, and so successfully to resist the German 
onrush to the East, would certainly enable them 



162 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to resist Italian dominion. The "Irredenta 
Slava" would become the greatest menace to the 
Italian nation and to the peace of Europe. Italy, 
for the sake of very doubtful advantages, must 
strain every nerve to cope with that danger 
threatening her from the East. What has been 
a difficulty for the militarists of Germany in 
Alsace and Lorraine certainly would be much 
more so for a democratic Italy in the coveted 
Slavic provinces. 

In order to show Italy's friends in America that 
that danger would be no small one, and that my 
warning against it is no exaggeration, I shall show 
the principal results which must follow the Italian 
occupation. 

First, Italy would occupy all islands of the 
Dalmatian archipelago. The Italian population 
numbers 1563, and the Serbo-Croats 116,227 souls. 
How strong the Slav sentiment is among them can 
best be illustrated by the fact that for centuries, 
although Roman catholics, they never suffered the 
mass to be read in Latin, but insisted on having 
it read in old Slav language, the so-called Glago- 
lica. And the popes, meeting the wishes of the 
inhabitants by special bulls, authorized the use 
of the Glagolitza in the Roman catholic parishes 
on the islands of the Dalmatian archipelago. 
Those islands have contributed many popular 
names among the Serbo-Croatian writers, and 
played a prominent part in the national reawaken- 
ing. The Italian occupation, besides hurting the 
national feeling of the inhabitants, would produce 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 163 

disagreeable economic changes for them. They 
are sailors and olive and vine growers, and their 
agriculture would be quickly ruined by the com- 
petition with the cheap products of Italy. What 
the economic conditions in Dalmatia are can be 
seen clearly from the following consular report : 

"Dalmatia is a narrow strip of rocky, treeless, 
mountainous country. For the last fifty years 
the emigration from Dalmatia has been very con- 
siderable, and some country districts have lost a 
large portion of their population. It was esti- 
mated that over 6000 persons left the province 
annually previous to the last crisis in the United 
States, and although there was some falling off 
in the numbers after the event, it is probable that 
the present annual number of emigrants does not 
fall short of that total. Unfortunately no emigra- 
tion statistics are kept. An annual emigration of 
approximately 10 per 1000 would appear at first 
sight to be a serious misfortune for such a poor 
and sparsely populated country, but there are 
factors present which made it a source of wealth. 
The Dalmatian leaves his home with the inten- 
tion of amassing a fortune and of returning as 
soon as he shall have accomplished his object, and 
even while he is in America or elsewhere he con- 
stantly remits money to his relatives at home. 
Yet in spite of this welcome assistance from emi- 
grants the rural population of Dalmatia is ex- 
tremely poor, especially on the mainland and in 
the towns, the taxes are heavy, while the cost of 



164 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

living, which is already high, is steadily rising. 
Also from the point of view of the interests of 
Dalmatia this incessant stream of emigration 
possesses its disadvantages. There are districts in 
the province where the supply of farm labor is 
altogether inadequate, and in those parts and also 
in the ports where sufficient local labor is not ob- 
tainable, workmen from Hercegovina and Monte- 
negro have to be imported. Although the emi- 
grants return home bringing their savings, they 
are no longer available for agricultural or other 
labor. From long residence in the towns they are 
disinclined to return to their villages, and they 
prefer to settle in the larger towns along the 
coast. ' ' * 

The same economic changes would be operating 
among the inhabitants of the coastland. The Dal- 
matian ports in Italian occupation would lie idle 
and abandoned, as Italian commerce would never 
come through them, and the Serbo-Croatian com- 
merce would shun them. Italy, far from increas- 
ing her own political and economic power, would 
only add a fresh difficulty to the existing economic 
and social problems, having to deal with a dis- 
contented and impoverished population, alien in 
thoughts and sentiments, which could be kept in 
obedience only by strong garrisons, representing 
a new burden for her national resources. 

But her occupation of the islands and of 
northern Dalmatia would inevitably create bitter 

iBeport on Commerce, Industries and Navigation of Dalmatia 
for Years 1910-11, by British Vice-Consul Twueas Shadwell. 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 165 

antagonism between her and the Serbo-Croatian 
state and nation. The Serbo-Croatian ports in 
the Adriatic — Fiume (Rieka) and Splet (Spa- 
lato) — would be put under direct command of 
Italian guns. Both of them would be in Italian 
territorial waters. Everybody knows what ter- 
rible losses every belligerent nation has sustained, 
or will be sustaining, during the present crisis. 
The ruin and devastation all over Europe will be 
simply appalling. The Serbo-Croats, like all 
other nations in Europe, must hasten to make 
good the wastage and ruin caused by the war. 
The organization of commercial ports will be their 
first national care. They will be in need of foreign 
capital and enterprise. But will British, French, 
or American capital be forthcoming for the Serbo- 
Croatian ports when their wharves and docks 
would be at the mercy of Italian guns, and when 
all ships to enter them must pass through narrow 
Italian channels? 

The Serbo-Croatian patriots will appeal to the 
Slavic world at large against Italian injustice. 
There will be at least one portion of the Slav 
nation ready to listen to their grievances. It is 
of no small concern to Italy and to the world 
which road the future Russian policy will take. 
Will she develop like a sincere, broad-minded, 
peaceful, and tolerant democracy, or be eaten by 
the cankerous desires of world-dominion? Much 
of that will depend on the issues and solution of 
the many problems which have arisen in connec- 
tion with the present war. Chiefly it will depend 



166 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

upon the spirit by which the Europe of to-morrow 
will be animated. Will it be the spirit taught by- 
Junkers and state philosophers of the last fifty 
years in Germany? Or will it be the spirit 
preached by Franklin, Kant, Mazzini, Ruskin, and 
pope Leo XIII? 

In vain Italians would say to-morrow that im- 
perial Russia had consented to their occupation 
of those Slav lands. Russia has also consented 
to the Austrian occupation of Bosnia and Herce- 
govina ; nevertheless she was on the brink of war 
in 1908-9, owing to the annexation of those prov- 
inces, and is to-day fighting for the liberation of 
those provinces from the Austro-Hungarian rule. 
Unable to hinder the occupation of Bosnia and 
Hercegovina by Austria, prince Gorchakov, at 
the congress of Berlin, is reported to have said to 
count Andrassy, "Well, go in; but Bosnia and 
Hercegovina will prove to be the tomb of Austria- 
Hungary.' ' Are the words of prince Gorchakov 
to count Andrassy no warning to Italy? 

There will be eager patriots who will try to 
represent the action of Italy as a policy of black- 
mailing. Some will say that the word pledged 
by the Allies when their armies stood exhausted 
after a first year of fighting, and that this pledge 
has no value whatever. Everybody who knows the 
ardent patriotism and the intensity of the national 
feeling among the Southern Slavs will at once 
recognize that the unjust solution of their national 
aspirations would leave a sore wound, which never 
could be healed until it brings a fresh terrible 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC 167 

crisis over Southern Europe. The European de- 
mocracy has every interest not to give to the 
Southern Slav militarists that weapon. Thus the 
Italian militarists arguing for the occupation of 
the Dalmatian archipelago to insure Italy against 
imaginary Russian danger would play into the 
hands of a reaction against democracy, and bring 
that danger very near and make it very real. 

But there remains Germany. One of the best 
acknowledged aims for which the Allies are fight- 
ing is the annihilation of German militarism. But 
how can Germany be cured of the canker of mili- 
tarism when there would remain Italian and Ser- 
bian militarism? The German people cannot be 
annihilated. There will remain Germany's pro- 
ductive power; and German militarism, defeated 
and humiliated, would avail itself of any rift be- 
tween the Allies in order to assert itself again. It 
is obvious to every student of the European sit- 
uation that Germany will use every means and 
opportunity to obtain an outlet to the Adriatic. 
The Italians, having occupied Trieste and its hin- 
terland, would have to resist not only the South- 
ern Slavs' resentment, but also the German onrush 
to the south. It is a question primarily for Italy, 
whether she can, and for how long a time, suc- 
cessfully resist both pressures. And even if she 
could do so, would the advantages obtained by it 
be adequate to the sacrifices required? The 
Italian risorgimento has played a great part for 
the risorgimento of the Southern Slavs, and the 
words of Cavour, "With the devil, if necessary, 



168 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

only to unite Italy/ ' will surely be remembered 
by them. 

The fallacy of strategic frontiers is the most 
dangerous snare for the nations, and Italy has 
every reason to avoid falling into it. The best 
strategic frontiers for every nation are the friend- 
ship of its neighbors, and in case of danger brave 
hearts and a good cause. The present world- 
struggle is the best illustration of this truth. The 
Serbians routed the Austrians when the latter had 
occupied all ' 'impregnable' ' positions. The Ger- 
mans took Namur, Liege, and Antwerp, but in 
spite of all their efforts, stupendous artillery and 
appalling sacrifices, they could not force the Yser 
canal, defended by the stout hearts of the avengers 
of Belgium and the defenders of the British em- 
pire. The best men and the highest authorities in 
Italy have warned their compatriots against that 
fallacy and the Southern Slav danger. The well- 
known Italian writer and patriot, Nicola Tomaseo, 
a native of Sebenico, in Dalmatia, whose noble 
heart sincerely loved both nations, did all in his 
power to promote friendly feelings and coopera- 
tion among them, said, with regard to the Dalma- 
tian coast: "I don't believe that Dalmatia could 
ever be incorporated in Italy. Her destiny bids 
her to be in the future a free, non-subjugated 
friend of Italy." 

With anxiety and dismay the nations are await- 
ing the answer to the question now on every lip : 
What will Europe be after the war? Surely for 
Europe only two ways are possible: the way of 



PROBLEM OF THE ADRIATIC U9 

liberty, peace, and respect among her nations; or 
the way of brutal militarism allied to narrow na- 
tionalism. Such a Europe will be ruled by secret- 
cabinet policy. The teaching of Machiavelli and 
the time of prince Metternich will be revived with 
new force, intrigue will follow intrigue, and plot 
will succeed plot. Italy, who, in the past, has suf- 
fered and so much and so long a time from such a 
political system in Europe, must be the first to 
oppose its revival. 



VIII 
THE SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 

IN order to avoid blunders of the past, which 
had such fatal consequences in bleeding Ser- 
bia nearly to death, and by prolonging the 
war necessitated new sacrifices in lives and wealth, 
we must form some clear and definite idea about 
Bulgaria and make up our mind concerning the 
future arrangements in the Balkans. The Allies 
bid everything to win Bulgaria to their side, but 
she sneered in their faces, and in the most deci- 
sive hour betrayed her benefactors and the cause 
of European liberties. But the treachery of Bul- 
garia was quite natural and could be expected by 
every one who had some insight into Bulgarian 
character and psychology. The "Prussians of 
the Balkans" had more in common with Prussia 
than political sympathy of a moment, and in view 
of the importance of the subject, no excuse is 
necessary in treating to some length the Serbo- 
Bulgarian relations in the past, as they are the 
key to the understanding of the present, and the 
best warning how to avoid fatal mistakes in the 
future. 

By the seventh century the Slav tribes had 
definitely occupied the whole northern part of the 

170 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 171 

Balkan peninsula and settled down in nearly all 
the provinces they now inhabit from the Alps to 
the shores of the iEgean and Black Seas. But 
lacking the higher administrative and military or- 
ganization, being by nature and habit peaceful, 
agricultural communities, they readily acknowl- 
edged the suzerainty of the Byzantine empire and 
tried to continue in the new fatherland the life 
they had led in the old, on the immense plains 
of the South of Russia. But in the seventh cen- 
tury, a warlike Mongolian tribe, possessing a 
more effective military organization, penetrated 
from the Volga and, having crossed the Danube, 
conquered and subjugated to its rule the Slav 
tribes between the Lower Danube, the Balkan 
mountains, the river Isker and the Black Sea. 
Being unimportant in numbers, the new-comers 
soon mingled with and lost themselves in the sub- 
jugated Slav population, to which they bequeathed 
their name of Bulgars and to which they imparted 
some warlike qualities, forming a Slavo-Mon- 
golian state in which they represented the mili- 
tary caste. 

The new Bulgaro-Slav state grew very rapidly, 
spreading easily to the west, and soon included 
more and more provinces inhabited by Slavs. To 
them the Bulgarian state came as a reaction to the 
more alien Byzantine rule, and had the character 
of an almost national state. There was a time 
(in the tenth century) when it seemed that the 
Bulgarian state, which had then incorporated with 
itself the whole of Macedonia and present Serbia, 



172 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

would unite all the Slav tribes in the Balkans and 
form a great and powerful Slav realm. But the 
military efficiency of the Mongolian ruling caste 
of the Volgars soon evaporated, and the Bul- 
garian state perished as rapidly as it had arisen. 
But in its place the first Serbian state emerged 
in the south-western corner of the peninsula near 
the Adriatic coast. By a natural evolution the 
Serbian state spread eastward, following steadily 
in the wake of the retreating Bulgarian wave or 
Byzantine rule. The Serbian state was a pure 
Slav reaction against both of them, and although 
the Serbian reign and ascendency over the eastern 
provinces and Macedonia was only asserted later 
and by a slower process, it was nevertheless firmer 
and lasted longer — in fact until the Turkish inva- 
sion — leaving behind it a deeply-rooted historical 
and national tradition which survived the five 
centuries of Turkish oppression. 

Thus owing to the natural sources from which 
sprang the Serbian and Bulgarian nations of 
to-day, it is most difficult to draw a clear and defi- 
nite line of demarkation between them. Until this 
day they are as two neighboring colors in the 
spectrum. On the outer limits you clearly see the 
difference of the tint, but towards the middle they 
are so mingled that the line of demarkation simply 
does not exist. Thus the purer Bulgarian type, 
and most distinguishable from the Serbian, is to 
be found in the Bulgarian provinces on the Black 
Sea, where the predominance of the Mongolian 
blood in the population is clearly attested by the 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 173 

larger lower jaws, broader skulls, jet black hair 
and dark complexion. Also the Slav language, 
as spoken in these districts, being more strongly- 
influenced by alien elements, is hardly understood 
by the inhabitants of western Bulgaria of to-day. 
Going from the Black Sea towards the west, the 
Mongolian infusion becomes thinner and thinner, 
so that on the river Isker it is altogether lost and 
the Slavonic type appears in all its purity. 

The same may be said in regard to Macedonia* 
The Bulgarians reigned only 125 years in all in 
Macedonia during the ninth and tenth centuries, 
and disappeared without leaving any historical 
monument or tradition. The Serbians, on the con- 
trary, subsequently ruled over Macedonia in the 
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries for 140 years. 
All historical monuments in Macedonia— -churches 
and castles, also the national songs and traditions 
— belong without a single exception to that later, 
Serbian, period. 

In spite of all these influences and changes the 
process of differentiation between Serbs and Bul- 
gars has not advanced very far, so that even 
to-day the difference between them — at least in 
language — is less than the difference between 
Bavarians and Prussians or between the Great 
and Little Russians or southern and northern 
Italians. Owing to that it is really difficult to 
draw a fixed line of demarkation between them, 
unless it be a line on a political or other non-ethni- 
cal basis. Thus the Slavs inhabiting Macedonia 
between Sar and the Rhodope mountains have 



174 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

in their language and customs the characteristic 
traits belonging to both Serbians and Bulgarians. 
Therefore it is a very bold assertion on the part 
of some writers on Macedonia, to pretend on a 
would-be scientific basis to describe the Mace- 
donian population as purely Bulgarian or purely 
Serbian. 

The misfortune of the present situation of the 
Balkan Slavs consists in the fact that the Turkish 
invasion of the fourteenth century came pre- 
maturely, before the natural process operating 
among them was wholly evolved in forming a 
strong national state, as was the case in France, 
England and Germany. The breaking up of the 
Turkish empire in the nineteenth century found 
them, as to their mutual relations, in the state 
they were left in by the fourteenth century, when 
the natural political and national evolution in the 
Balkans was forcibly arrested. And when they 
awoke to the new life, the two great empires of 
Russia and Austria-Hungary were already formed 
on the frontiers of the Balkans, and the Serbo- 
Bulgarian countries were virtually divided among 
them. Austria-Hungary (see the agreement be- 
tween emperor Joseph II and empress Catherine 
the Great) had ear-marked the western part, and 
Russia had booked Constantinople and the east- 
ern part of the peninsula. As the Russian and 
Austro-Hungarian political influences remained 
paramount till this day in the Balkans, often 
changing roles, but always pursuing the same pre- 
conceived scheme of the conquest of the Balkans, 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 175 

plotting and intriguing, threatening and exhort- 
ing, they have done very much to divide the Bal- 
kan nations and, if possible, to establish an un- 
bridgeable gulf between Serbia and Bulgaria. 
They have accentuated the existing differences, 
exaggerated opposing interests, and counteracted 
every spontaneous tendency towards unity and 
cooperation between them. For the sake of his- 
torical truth, we must say here that Russia was 
less persistent in such a policy, and that her more 
recent influence in fostering the Serbo-Bulgarian 
alliance of 1912 and the late Balkan League 
proves, that Russia was inspired by more sincere 
motives than Austria, and seemed to have quite 
abandoned any idea of the conquest of the 
Balkans. 

Left alone without any foreign influence, it ap- 
peared at one time that the Serbians and Bul- 
garians would in brotherly union have formed a 
single state upon the inevitable ruins of the Turk- 
ish empire. Also the first steps towards such an 
end were taken in the sixties of last century dur- 
ing the reign of the prince Michael of Serbia. The 
Bulgarians received every assistance and protec- 
tion in Serbia, whose government was instrumen- 
tal in the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate, 
helped in the printing of Bulgarian books and 
opening of Bulgarian schools, and did all in its 
power for the re-awakening of the Bulgarian na- 
tional consciousness. The Bulgarian patriots of 
those days dreamed only of a liberated Bulgaria 
united with Serbia under one crown. 



176 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

The dream of the Serbo-Bulgarian union was 
shattered by the creation of the Bulgarian state 
in 1878. 

After the Congress of Berlin both Serbia and 
Bulgaria were left in a bitter state of mind. Bul- 
garia was disappointed because the Treaty of San 
Stefano was not wholly carried out, and Serbia 
felt aggrieved in seeing Bosnia and Hercegovina 
handed over to Austria-Hungary. All her sacri- 
fices sustained in two wars against Turkey as ally 
of Russia, brought her nothing but an unimpor- 
tant aggrandizement in territory, and only served 
to create a Bulgaria twice as large as herself, 
while nearly all the remaining provinces of Old 
Serbia and Macedonia were ear-marked for Bul- 
garia by the Treaty of San Stefano. That treaty 
inspired by Russia's imperialistic policy of 
those days, was most prejudicial to Serbia, and 
although it was not carried out, it laid the foun- 
dation of the political programme of Bulgaria, 
and completely estranged her from Serbia. 

But besides the nefarious political influences of 
Russia and Austria-Hungary which worked for 
the dividing and breaking-up of the strength of 
the Balkan Slavs and their states, Bulgaria could 
not escape the far more pernicious influence of 
the spirit of the age which prevailed in Europe 
during the last fifty years, and is even now domi- 
nating her political counsels and deliberations. 
The spirit of aggressive selfishness and cunning 
statecraft emanating from a victorious and power- 
ful Germany, preached and extolled by her state 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 177 

philosophers and theorists of Prussian Junker- 
dom, found an easy access in Sofia. That spirit, 
which contaminated the whole of Europe and pro- 
claimed the doctrine that Might is going before 
Right, entirely infected the policy of Bulgaria. 

Taking all into account, without fear of appear- 
ing partial to any one, we may say for the sake 
of historical accuracy that Serbia was infected in 
a far lesser degree than Bulgaria by that spirit 
of exaggerated national consciousness which sees 
nothing in the world beyond its national interests. 
We do not wish to say that Serbian politicians 
possessed in a higher degree than those of Bul- 
garia some stronger virtues, or that they were 
free from some national vices, but Serbia being 
hard pressed by Austria-Hungary, always felt the 
imperative necessity of an understanding with 
Bulgaria for cooperation and lasting friendship. 

As to Bulgaria, things seemed quite different 
there. Turkey, ruled by Abdul Hamid, was with 
every day falling deeper and deeper into corrup- 
tion and decrepitude — she was no danger. Russia, 
whatever her bureaucracy might have dreamt 
when Bulgaria was created, had completely ban- 
ished from her mind any idea of conquering Bul- 
garia, and was rather a protector. The Austro- 
Hungarian danger was far off or was never taken 
seriously in Sofia. The Bulgarian throne was oc- 
cupied by Ferdinand of Coburg, a German prince 
who received his whole political education in 
Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. Prussia was his 
model, Kaiser William II his idol, and he en- 



178 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

deavored with some success to make Bulgaria the 
Prussia of the Balkans. The Bulgarian people, 
being obedient by nature and easily disciplined, 
were just the kind of people who suited his am- 
bition. Being in any case debarred from building 
his authority upon the divine right and Provi- 
dence working through his dynasty like his idol 
in Prussia, he ruled in Bulgaria by flattering the 
national ambitions and lower instincts and cor- 
rupting influential men in Bulgaria. He could 
temporize and await the propitious moment for 
the realization of his dream, which was a Bulgaria 
extending from the Adriatic to Constantinople 
and himself crowned with the crown of a Byzan- 
tine emperor. 

The Young Turkish revolution, by promising 
a reorganization of Turkey as a strong military 
power, endangered his plans and prompted him 
to action. The annexation of Bosnia and Herce- 
govina in 1908 brought the German danger 
nearer to Serbia and embittered Austro-Serbian 
relations to the highest pitch. Ferdinand ap- 
proached Serbia at the moment when she was most 
disposed for making the greatest concessions in 
Macedonia in exchange for the promise of some 
help and cooperation against Austria-Hungary. 
Thus the Serbo-Bulgarian treaty of alliance was 
signed in 1912, and the Balkan League embracing 
Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro was 
formed in the same year. 

The forming of the Balkan League, together 
with the triumphant march of the allied armies 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 179 

through Macedonia and Thrace, was hailed with 
joy by all sincere friends of the Balkan nations, 
and called forth many sanguine expectations as 
to the future of the Balkans. But the Balkan 
League was dead on the very day upon which the 
treaty of alliance was signed. It was dead because 
upon it lay the curse of Prussian statecraft; be- 
cause it was not animated by the living spirit, 
which is truth and sincerity. 

The Balkan statesmen and governments of 1912 
approached each other, negotiated and concluded 
the treaty of alliance, not in a pious spirit of 
brotherly union or christian love, animated by a 
sincere desire not only to fight the old mussulman 
oppressor and to divide the spoil, but also to 
further each other's political and economic de- 
velopment, to strengthen and insure each other's 
state independence and national freedom ; but they 
negotiated the treaty of alliance against Turkey 
with the secret thoughts of using each other only 
as a ladder for ascending to the summit of po- 
litical supremacy in the Balkans. No wonder that 
such a league could not continue, and that as soon 
as Turkey was defeated the mask was thrown off 
and the falsehood on which the first Balkan 
League was founded became evident to every- 
body. 

The first rift in the lute occurred very soon. It 
happened in December, 1912. Macedonia was 
cleared from the Turkish forces; the Serbian 
army, in pursuit of some miserable remnants of 
the Turkish regiments defeated at Kumanovo and 



180 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Monastir, penetrated to and occupied Durazzo in 
Albania, and with jubilation celebrated the long- 
cherished dream of obtaining access to the sea. 
Adrianople was besieged by the united Serbo- 
Bulgarian forces, and after some bloody fighting 
the Bulgarian troops were stalemated before the 
Chataldja lines. The negotiations for peace were 
to open in London, whither all the Balkan states 
were sending their delegates. Austria-Hungary 
became restless, and already through her papers 
and diplomatic notes gave expression to her ill- 
humor and hostile disposition towards Serbia. As 
Serbia's military successes created a deep im- 
pression and called forth such an outburst of 
national enthusiasm among the Southern Slav 
population of the Dual monarchy by inspiring 
their already intense national feeling with new 
faith and power, the governments of Vienna and 
Budapest thought that the humiliation and spoli- 
ation of Serbia would be the best reaction against 
the national enthusiasm of the Southern Slavs. 
Her policy unflinchingly pursued only one end: 
Serbia even at the cost of new complications must 
be humiliated and shorn of any advantages she 
might expect to acquire from the war. 

At that moment the Bulgarian delegate to the 
Peace Conference at London, M. Danev, on his 
way to London spent several days at Vienna. 
There he assiduously called upon all persons of 
high official standing, and gave many interviews 
to the Vienna and Budapest papers. With all his 
talents and power he courted the favor of the 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 181 

Vienna cabinet and public opinion for Bulgaria 
and her aims. Serbia was left in the lurch. While 
professing his assurances of Bulgaria's friend- 
ship for the Dual monarchy and of her desire to 
meet the views of the Vienna cabinet, he said not 
one word in favor of Serbia or her strivings to 
obtain access to the Adriatic. It was evident that 
Bulgaria cared very little about the interests of 
her ally and neighbor ; she was bent blindly on the 
achievement of her own aims, and ready to sacri- 
fice Serbia to the wrath of Austria-Hungary, in 
order to facilitate the attainment of the object 
she had in view. 

The differences between the Bulgarian views 
and interests and those pursued by Serbia and 
Greece were further emphasized during the Peace 
Conference in London. 

The object of the liberation of the christians 
from Turkish rule was attained in November, 
1912, when Turkey had lost the whole of Mace- 
donia and a considerable portion of Thrace. The 
Greek inhabitants remaining in eastern Thrace 
and in the environs of Constantinople would 
surely not prefer the Bulgarian to the Turkish 
rule. Peace could be concluded, and the spoils 
be divided among the allies without much trouble ; 
but the Bulgarian government insisted on the con- 
quest of Adrianople and made the surrender of 
that city sine qua non condition of peace. The 
Turks preferred the continuation of the war to the 
surrendering of a fortress and a city dear to their 
national and religious sentiments. Thus Greece 



182 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and Serbia were obliged, by the dead letter of the 
treaty of alliance, to make further sacrifices in 
blood and money solely to satisfy the Bulgarian 
ambitions of conquest and pride. 

The Bulgarians asked and obtained the Serbian 
military assistance for the besieging and subse- 
quently for the storming of Adrianople. In meet- 
ing this Bulgarian demand for assistance the Ser- 
bian government stipulated that it could be given 
only on the condition of some territorial compen- 
sation in Macedonia and revision of the agree- 
ment concerning the division of the conquered ter- 
ritories. That assistance, together with the frus- 
tration of the Serbian hopes of obtaining access 
to the Adriatic, entitled Serbia to some kind of 
compensation on the part of her allies. And that 
compensation would have been given by any ally 
and neighbor who would have behaved towards 
Serbia with the least grain of sincere amity and 
friendship. But Bulgaria insisted on her own in- 
terpretation of the strict letter of the treaty of 
alliance, and refused to listen to any proposal of 
the kind. The Bulgarian government, blinded by 
greed, threw aside all counsels of wisdom and 
moderation. They considered that the alliance 
had already given them everything they expected 
to obtain from it. Since Turkey was beaten and 
reduced to impotence the alliance had in their view 
already served its purpose, and had for the future 
become rather a hindrance and nuisance. They 
appeared to rejoice at Serbia's obstinacy in in- 
sisting on the revision of the treaty and in claim- 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 183 

ing some compensation, as it gave them the 
wished-for opportunity to rid themselves immedi- 
ately of the fiction of an alliance with the very 
states they wanted to fight and dominate. 

Bulgaria has been both condemned and pitied 
for her treacherous attack on the Serbian army 
at midnight on the 30th of June, 1913. The sen- 
timental friends of the Balkan nations looked for 
some scapegoat upon whom to throw the respon- 
sibility for such a criminal and foolish ending 
of the first Balkan League. The persons respon- 
sible for it are many, but hardly have they been 
anything more than puppets in the service of the 
spirit of greed and statecraft which presided over 
the councils of the Bulgarians and inspired their 
actions. It is idle to complain of the end of an 
ill-begotten alliance. If Bulgaria had not attacked 
Serbia and Greece on that fatal day of June, 1913, 
yet war between them was inevitable, as also was 
its repetition in 1915 ; and the war between them 
will be repeated in the future as soon as Bulgaria 
judges the moment propitious for the realization 
of her dream of hegemony in the Balkans. 

The late Bulgarian premier, M. Gesov, in his 
recently published volume The Balkan Alliance, 
has tried to exonerate himself and his colleagues 
in the cabinet, and to throw the whole responsi- 
bility for the treachery to his allies upon Ferdi- 
nand of Saxe-Coburg, tzar of Bulgaria and a Ger- 
man prince. "In spite of the unanimous de- 
cision of the Bulgarian government," M. Gesov 
writes, "and unknown to the cabinet, the Bulga- 



184 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

rian armies attacked their allies, the Serbians and 
Greeks, by order of the tzar of Bulgaria. . . . 
This was a criminal folly, for which the Bulgarian 
nation could not be held responsible, as its regular 
government had not decided to declare war on the 
allies/ ' But M. Gesov, in attacking the principal 
actor in the ugly drama of the Balkans, is not at- 
tacking and denouncing the tzar of Bulgaria on 
account of the moral ugliness of his action, but 
because the open treachery failed to bring in such 
results as had been looked for in Sofia. To the 
statesmen around tzar Ferdinand, success is the 
only measure of the fairness of an enterprise. 
Had Ferdinand of Coburg succeeded in beating 
the Greeks and Serbians, and in snatching from 
them, as the price of victory, the whole of Mace- 
donia together with Salonica, he would have been 
praised in 1913 as he is praised to-day as the 
greatest statesman and patriot in Bulgaria, and 
M. Gesov would never have said a word against 
his treachery to the alliance. Indeed we must 
recognize here that tzar Ferdinand acted under 
the strongest provocation. That provocation was 
not the obstinacy of Serbia, whose desire for re- 
vision of the treaty and some compensation are 
readily comprehensible and might have been 
met half way, but he was provoked by a unique 
opportunity of beating the Serbian and Greek 
armies and establishing the supremacy of his own 
troops beyond all doubt. His personal pride had 
suffered much at that moment because of the fail- 
tire to conquer Constantinople and to enter that 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 185 

imperial city in the state and pomp of a Byzan- 
tine emperor. He had already ordered everything 
necessary for such a ceremony on the eve of the 
failure of his troops to force the Chataldja lines 
at the very gates of Constantinople, and he needed 
some sort of solace in a new brilliant feat of arms. 
Flatterers throughout Europe had praised his 
talent and wisdom, his army was considered sec- 
ond to none but Prussian troops in efficiency, and 
how could he permit any lasting success and a por- 
tion of military glory to go to his Serbian and 
Greek neighbors? Had he hesitated, his hesita- 
tion would have merited only contempt in the 
eyes of his imperial idol in Berlin, who dared 
everything. If he had moral scruples, he would 
be laughed at by the highly extolled circles of 
Berlin and Vienna, who were just preparing the 
violation of peaceful, innocent Belgium, and the 
plunging of Europe into the most bloody and 
criminal of wars. Had he entertained fears and 
doubts as to the success of his enterprise, there 
was the support of the government of Vienna and 
Budapest to insure him against failure, promising 
him all kinds of help and protection. And we have 
seen how Serbia and the whole world were pain- 
fully surprised by the news of the attack of the 
Bulgarian army by the order of tzar Ferdinand. 

We have said earlier that it is difficult to fix and 
determine with any exactitude the nationality of 
the Macedonian Slavs. Such was the view of both 
the Serbian and Bulgarian governments when 
they drafted and signed the treaty of alliance in 



186 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

1912. The second article of the secret appendix 
to that treaty said: 

" Serbia recognizes Bulgaria's right to the ter- 
ritories east of the Rhodope mountains and the 
river Struma; Bulgaria recognizes Serbia's right 
to the territories situated to the north and west 
of the Sar mountain." 

It is obvious that the remaining territories 
could be divided between them, not on the basis 
of the ethnographical character of their inhabi- 
tants, but in virtue of some political and military 
agreement. And consequently it was done so. 
They planned an attack upon Turkey, but also an 
alliance against Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria being 
considered militarily stronger, was entitled for 
her greater exertion to the larger portion of the 
territory to be conquered. Thus a military con- 
vention was signed between them as an integral 
part of the treaty of alliance, by which convention 
the military duties of the contracting parties were 
strictly apportioned and determined. But it so 
happened that Bulgaria was for some reason or 
other unable to perform fully the duties assigned 
to her by the convention. Moreover Serbia, be- 
sides having taken upon herself part of Bulgaria's 
military duty in Macedonia, was asked for a*nd 
gave the necessary assistance to Bulgaria for the 
operations around Adrianople. Serbia conse- 
quently asserted that Bulgaria by not entirely ful- 
filling her duties had forfeited the right to part 
of the whole territory assigned to her by the 
treaty, and thought she, Serbia, having done more 



SERBO-BULGABIAN RELATIONS 187 

than was provided by the convention, had acquired 
the right to some compensation. Bulgaria was ada- 
mantine in her resolve to allow no compensation 
to Serbia, and stuck to her own interpretation 
that the line of division in Macedonia had nothing 
to do with the military convention. And in spite 
of the third article of the Secret Appendix to the 
treaty of alliance which runs : " Any dispute which 
would arise concerning the interpretation and 
execution of whatever article of the treaty and of 
the present Secret Appendix of the military con- 
vention will be submitted for definite decision to 
Russia, as soon as one of the contracting parties 
shall have declared that it considers it impossible 
to arrive at an agreement by direct negotiations," 
the tzar of Bulgaria light-heartedly delivered his 
treacherous blow against Serbia and Greece on 
the eve of the arbitration of the tzar of Russia. 

The dispute over Macedonia, together with 
other disputes over the Dobrudja, was liquidated 
at Bucharest in August, 1913, but since the very 
date of the signature of the treaty of Bucharest 
the Bulgarian government has not ceased to pro- 
test against it, openly announcing its determina- 
tion to amend it to its own interest. No doubt 
can be entertained to-day concerning the mis- 
chievous part Austria-Hungary played in the last 
dramas of the Balkans. Unable to help Bulgaria, 
her victim and accomplice, at the time, she prom- 
ised her an early opportunity to wreak her ven- 
geance upon Serbia, since war against the latter 
was already decided in Vienna, even at the cost 



188 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

of a general conflagration, as we now know, 
thanks to signor Giolitti's revelations made in the 
Italian parliament. Bulgaria was the loser, but 
Austria-Hungary was the gainer, because the 
greatest danger which stood in the way of her 
aggressive designs— the Balkan Alliance — was 
annihilated ; and instead of Serbia receiving a Bul- 
garian army 200,000 strong to assist her against 
Austria-Hungary, she only received Bulgarian 
threats, and was obliged to divide her small forces 
in order to use part of them for the protection 
of her lines of communication against bands com- 
ing across the Bulgarian frontier. 

Some sentimental friends of Bulgaria in the 
western countries, over-eager to help her — and 
others wishing to see her as soon as possible 
actively engaged on the side of the Allies, readily 
accepted the Bulgarian point of view, that Bul- 
garia blundered in treacherously attacking in 
1913 her allies, but that she had acted under the 
greatest provocation, and that the best course 
would be to at once satisfy her territorial claims 
and thus insure her cooperation with the Allies. 
It was with that object in view that the diplomacy 
of the Entente in 1915 undertook the negotiations 
in Sofia, Nish and Athens which ended in a com- 
plete failure. 

This failure was foreseen by many who pos- 
sessed a fair knowledge of the psychology and 
aims of the governing circles in Sofia. In 1915 
as well as in 1913 Bulgaria pursued one and the 
same object. She had neither changed her feel- 



SERBO-BULGARIAN RELATIONS 189 

ings of jealousy and animosity towards her neigh- 
bors nor abandoned her ambitious desire for 
supremacy in the Balkans. Therefore the Bulga- 
rian government could not accept the proposals 
of the Entente powers, as they ran counter to the 
most cherished Bulgarian desires. The very exist- 
ence of Serbia was a perpetual menace to her 
aspiration to supremacy. How could she be ex- 
pected to contribute to the stability and strength 
of Serbia or to help the Eussian conquest of Con- 
stantinople and thus frustrate her own cherished 
dreams? As long as Constantinople remains in 
Turkish hands the tzar of Bulgaria may hope to 
enter it. Moreover she believes in German vic- 
tory, and as the Central Empires proposed the 
annihilation of Serbia and division of her terri- 
tory between Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, 
Sofia was only too eager to accept the bargain, 
leaving to the future the realization of her am- 
bition in the direction of Constantinople. 
> Thus Bulgaria had thrown in her lot definitely 
and irrevocably with the German combination of 
powers. The words " liberty" and "humanity" 
had no charm for materialistic Bulgaria. She 
bid for a greater price, and sold herself to Ger- 
many not in rashness of passion but cool-headedly 
and deliberately. She cannot plead that she was 
unaware of German methods of warfare and of 
the full meaning of the "Kultur." Bulgaria made 
her choice after the atrocities of the Belgian in- 
vasion, after the crime of the Lusitania, and after 
the judicial murder of Miss Cavell, and justice 



190 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

must be done to her according to the merits of 
her action. 

The world has seen, indeed, many an instance 
of ingratitude of nations, but the ingratitude of 
Bulgaria towards Russia, who called her to life, 
and Great Britain and France, who carefully 
watched and assisted her progress, has surpassed 
everything of the kind, and is of so abject a 
character that it blackens human nature in gen- 
eral. But to make it more disgraceful, the brutal 
act of blind passion was accompanied by such vile 
cunning and double dealing that the governing 
circles in Sofia may pride themselves to have 
beaten every record in this respect also. 

Thanks to Bulgaria's action Serbia has passed 
through a terrible agony such as no living nation 
has ever experienced in history. The Central Em- 
pires have won a very important strategic posi- 
tion, increasing their power of resistance and of 
evil doing. The war has been prolonged by so 
many months, and hundreds of thousands of lives 
must be sacrificed in the Balkans in order to make 
good the damage caused by the hate and ambition 
of the Coburg prince and his hirelings in Bulgaria. 

Since the very day of the " happy" consumma- 
tion of the Bulgarb-German alliance all political 
quarters in Sofia, without distinction of party and 
shade, have rejoiced over it as being the realization 
of their innermost desire. The idea of a union of 
free and independent Balkan states has been 
broken like an impotent idol and ridiculed like a 
stupid ideal of weal? nations, but unworthy of Bui- 



SERBO-BULGAKIAN RELATIONS 191 

garia, the worthy ally of mighty Germany. We 
sincerely doubt that that ideal can be ever called 
to life again. The present struggle is a fearful 
crucible, and out of it will come a new world ruled 
by new ideals and a new grouping of nations. 

What the ideal of Bulgaria is the cabinets of 
London, Paris and Petrograd have misunderstood 
to their own harm. To a certain degree they may 
be honored by having been the dupes of the Bul- 
garians' villainous hypocrisy, as in the straight- 
forwardness and solicitude for the good of Bul- 
garia, they could never have suspected such de- 
pravity of human nature, and this not only in a 
single prince or his government, but in every 
political quarter of a whole nation. But they 
could never be excused if they were ever deceived 
again. The lesson has been paid for by such ap- 
palling sacrifices, with the most precious blood 
shed in the Balkans, and such fearful agony of 
Serbia, that this must be taken into account in any 
future dealings with Bulgaria. 

Like criminals pursued by evil dreams, Bul- 
garian politicians after having crucified Serbia 
fear even her shadow and demand her complete 
annihilation. If it were the evil destiny of Europe 
to succumb to the German hegemony, the Serbian 
nation demands nothing from the future; and to 
be worthy of her past, she would proudly lie in 
the same shroud in which the liberty of the world 
would be laid to rest. Let Bulgaria and her Ger- 
man and Magyar accomplices gloat over the vic- 
tim of her hate, and share the spoils, as it seems 



192 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

good to them. But if outraged Right is to come 
out victorious, and if the wrongs of Europe are 
to be redressed, Serbia must be protected from 
any future outburst of Bulgarian hate and ven- 
geance. Serbia does not demand the annihilation 
of Bulgaria, she may continue to exist, but she 
must be shorn of the power for evil doing. The 
future frontiers of Serbia and her railway lines 
running through the Timok and Vardar valleys 
being the arteries of Serbia, must be protected by 
a larger belt of territory. Such an arrangement 
would not be contrary to the principle of nation- 
ality, as the Slav population of a western Bul- 
garia, up to the river Isker, has very little or 
nothing of the Mongolian blood in it, and has 
always tended towards Serbia. During the Berlin 
Congress, many among them sent petitions to the 
powers to be incorporated with Serbia. Justice 
must be done to Serbia; this is demanded by the 
honor of her Allies, who have pledged their word 
to that effect. 

But here as everywhere the principle of the rule 
by the consent of those governed must be upheld. 
We propose only that, after a period of neutral 
occupation, the Slavs of Bulgaria's western dis- 
tricts should be given the chance of freely ex- 
pressing themselves whether they wish to remain 
independent or united with Serbia or Bulgaria. 



IX 



THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN 

SLAVS 

WE trust that in the preceding chapters the 
reader may find enough historico-polit- 
ical material to form a fair opinion as 
to what was the position of the Southern Slavs 
on the eve of the present world war, and why their 
country and people have been exposed to the first 
and most tremendous blow of the Germans and 
their allies: the Hapsburg dynasty, the Magyar 
oligarchy, and the predatory Bulgars. The stra- 
tegic and economic importance of the provinces 
inhabited by the Serbo-Croats and the Slovenes 
has now become so obvious that we think it un- 
neccesary to dwell further upon it. But it is 
necessary to remind the reader of one fact. In 
the course of the war, the Germans, convinced of 
the impossibility of realizing at present all their 
ambitions in Europe, have announced in the Reich- 
stag, last October, that France can achieve with- 
out any further bloodshed the evacuation of her 
territory and of Belgium, provided, of course, 
that the Germans are left in the possession of 
Serbia and remain the indisputable masters of the 
Balkans. It is obvious, though her thrust against 
France and Belgium was stupendous, that the 
principal ambition of Germany lay in the east. 

193 



194 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Her hold upon Austria-Hungary has become com- 
plete, and if she is left in the possession of the 
Southern Slav lands her dream of world do- 
minion, far from being shattered, will receive a 
fresh impulse and indeed be half realized. 

The Southern Slavs know all this by centuries 
of long experience, and their aspirations flow 
directly from that fact. They think that in 
accordance with the solemnly acknowledged prin- 
ciple of nationality they have the right to be united 
in a national state as the sole guarantee of their 
independence and progress. 

Serbia in the present struggle is only the recog- 
nized champion of their freedom. She has no am- 
bition of conquest, but only the noble mission and 
a sacred duty to come to the assistance of her 
brothers in distress. In view of the enormous 
sacrifices and recognized loyalty to the cause of 
the Allies, Serbia has the right to expect the full 
guarantees for her future independence and de- 
velopment. Fortunately enough, the Allies can 
give her those guarantees without revoking any 
principle acknowledged by them or infringing the 
lawful rights of any other nation. 

The Southern Slavs demand only that justice 
so long denied to them : the riddance of the foreign 
yoke in whatever form, and to constitute an inde- 
pendent state of all the provinces inhabited by 
them. No half measures would avail or satisfy 
them, and any hybrid solution would only prolong 
their misery and the struggle of nations for the 
dominion over South-Eastern Europe. For cen- 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 195 

turies the Southern Slavs have been the prey of 
the Germans and "the vampire state of the Mag- 
yars battening upon the blood of the neighboring 
nations" — to use the fit expression of Mr. Seton 
Watson— but the last struggle has exhausted their 
energies to such a degree that only by offering a 
united front they can with success resist the Ger- 
man menace, which will remain real even after 
Germany's defeat in the present war. We beg the 
reader to think for a moment what will be the 
destiny of the Slovenes, numbering merely 1,300,- 
000, in case they should not be united with the 
Serbo-Croats. Can they have any hope to resist 
with any chance of success the tremendous force 
of German expansion? Exhausted in the struggle, 
deceived in their hopes of freedom and unity, they 
must bcw to the inevitable and accept the German 
dominion as a decree of fate. Will America, Great 
Britain, France, or Russia arm ever again all their 
forces in order to come to their rescue? Why 
should they create for themselves difficulties where 
they do not exist? 

The same would happen in the case of an inde- 
cisive victory of the Allies and of a partial satis- 
faction of the Southern Slav aspirations. What 
value can the addition of one or two provinces 
inhabited by Serbs have for Serbia, while other 
provinces remain unredeemed and the Austro- 
Hungarian danger persists? What assistance and 
protection can Bosnia and Hercegovina find in a 
Serbia completely exhausted in men and finances? 
Poor and so sorely tried in the war, Bosnia and 



196 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Hercegovina would only be a new burden for 
Serbia. To find peace and prosperity, Serbia has 
need of every province inhabited by Serbs. But 
she cannot be separated from the Croats, as: 
firstly, it would be impossible to draw the line of 
division between them; and secondly, if they be 
constituted as two separate states, all their 
energies would be sapped by mutual jealousies. 
The division so cunningly fostered between them 
by Austria-Hungary would be sanctioned by 
Europe and made permanent. Instead of present- 
ing a united front to the common enemy, they 
would enfeeble themselves in mutual strife, and 
fall an easy prey to a foreign conqueror. Only an 
arch enemy of both the Serbs and the Croats could 
propose to divide them into two independent 
states on the basis of religion. Such an indepen- 
dence would prove a dangerous gift and a dia- 
bolical snare for the freedom and very existence 
of both of them. The Slovenes and the Croats 
realize this perfectly, and many among them are 
the most eager advocates of unity pure and simple 
with Serbia. 

The present war is also for the Serbo-Croats 
the last phase in the long struggle with the Mag- 
yars. It is self-evident that Serbia cannot leave 
any portion of her population under the dominion 
of the Magyars. The freedom and unity of the 
whole race remains Serbia's first and paramount 
duty. But without the Southern Slav provinces 
in South Hungary, Serbia would be unable to 
build her future prosperity on a sound basis. 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 197 

Baranya, Backa, and the western Banat represent 
the provinces which have suffered least from the 
war, and being the rich granary they are, they 
can economically and financially enable the future 
Southern Slav state to weather the fearful eco- 
nomic crisis which surely will rage in Europe, as 
an inevitable consequence of this prolonged war. 
Besides that, the Serbian provinces in South Hun- 
gary protect Serbia from an invasion from the 
north and cover Belgrade from a sudden and 
direct attack. As the geographical situation of 
Belgrade makes it the commanding position at 
the confluence of large rivers and at one of the 
most important cross-roads between the East and 
West, it is necessary that Belgrade as the capital 
of the state, as well as the commercial road pass- 
ing through it, should be protected by a wide belt 
of territory, if this state is to prosper and the 
roads arc to be rendered secure. Any consider- 
able number of Serbs left under Magyar rule 
would mean the continuation of the unsettled con- 
ditions in South-Eastern Europe. The Southern 
Slavs have every reason to expect, that after the 
defeat of the Central Empires, their claims with 
regard to the Magyars will be fully satisfied. 

But those claims of Serbia in respect of the 
Banat are complicated by the presence of large 
numbers of Roumanians inhabiting the eastern 
part of that province, for whose freedom and unity 
Roumania has gallantly entered into war on the 
side of the Allies. 

The Serbs and Roumanians have lived for more 



198 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

than a thousand years in close relations and 
neighborhood, and history has not yet chronicled 
a single instance of conflict between them. The 
sympathy for Roumania 's national aspirations 
and rights can nowhere be felt more strongly than 
in Serbia. Their cases being identical, now as in 
the future, they ought always to be found side by 
side. We may fairly hope that the teaching of 
their past history, as well as hardships and glories 
of the present brotherhood in arms, will inspire 
them with a lofty determination for complete 
agreement. No petty quarrel over a few villages 
in the Bauat should mar the good relations be- 
tween them, nor obscure the clear vision of their 
mutual interests and need for cooperation in the 
future. 

All the arguments that we have used in the 
" Problem of the Adriatic" concerning the rela- 
tions between the Southern Slavs and Italy, can 
with equal force be applied to their relations with 
Roumania. In addition let us only state that 
Roumania neither economically, nor strategically 
needs Banat as badly as Serbia does. Moreover, 
by incorporating Transylvania and many other 
counties in Hungary with a predominantly Rou- 
manian population, Roumania will obtain within 
her future frontiers such large Magyar and Ger- 
man minorities, that she will have every incentive 
not to be burdened by Slav minorities also. We 
are fully confident that a fair compromise will be 
reached between them. But again we insist that 
all strategic, economic and other considerations 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 199 

for the future delimitation of nations must be 
subordinated to the supreme principle of the free 
will of inhabitants of the districts with mixed pop- 
ulation. 

When in 1913 Albania was created, Serbia had 
good reasons to object to it, because the creation 
of Albania was promoted by Austria-Hungary not 
out of any friendly feelings towards the Alba- 
nians, but by enmity to Serbia, in order to prevent 
her from gaining acress to the sea and to use 
Albania for creating fresh difficulties for Serbia. 
But with the disappearance of Austria-Hungary, 
and under the changed conditions of future 
Europe, Serbia will have nothing against a free, 
independent Albania; but will be ready to assist 
her in coping with the many and serious diffi- 
culties attending the making of a nation out of 
many unruly and independent clans which, for 
centuries, have recognized no higher authority 
than their chieftains and no other laws but their 
tribal customs. 

For thirteen centuries the Serbs and Albanians 
have lived in the closest touch and neighborhood. 
They have mingled to such an extent that it is 
difficult to say where the Albanians begin and 
the Serbs end. They have fought each other, like 
the Scotch and the English ; but they also have had 
centuries of friendship, good understanding, and 
mutual help; and they have possibilities of com- 
prehending each other better than is presumed 
in many European capitals. The whole history of 
their mutual relations shows that Serbs and Al- 



200 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

banians have always lived on friendly terms when 
left alone without foreign interference. Albania 
wants peace, organization, and true patriotism, 
which could never be introduced from abroad. 
Reconciled with Serbia, Albania may enjoy peace. 
The Albanians have full right to organize them- 
selves into a national self-governing community 
and the Southern Slavs must be the first to recog- 
nize and respect that right by proving a loyal and 
friendly neighbor to Albania. They expect that 
the other will do the same, and that the principle 
''Balkan to the Balkan nation' ' will be upheld 
with respect to Albania. 

i What are the aspirations of the Southern Slavs 
with respect to Bulgaria we have said in another 
chapter. But the aspirations of the Southern 
Slavs rightly go beyond the Southern Serbian 
frontier. The existing Serbo-Greek frontier was 
drawn in 1913 by the Treaty of Bucharest. But 
every one felt that this treaty settled nothing and 
was from the very outset considered as a make- 
shift and a temporary solution. Large numbers 
of Southern Slavs remained outside the Serbian 
Southern frontier, and were incorporated with 
Greece in 1913. Some rectification of the frontier 
appears here necessary. The development of the 
future Southern Slav State is not to be thought 
of without a free access to the iEgean. Salonica 
by its mixed population of Greeks, Turks, Jews 
and Slavs belongs to none of them ethnographi- 
cally. But geographically and economically Sa- 
lonica belongs to Serbia. The valleys of the 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 201 

Morava and the Vardar constitute a geographical 
and economic unit extending naturally to the gulf 
of Salonica. The main commercial artery which 
unites West and East, passing by way of Ljubl- 
jana-Zagreb, Belgrade, Nish and Skoplje finds a 
natural outlet in Salonica. The prosperity of 
Salonica depends entirely upon the development 
of the future Southern Slav state. Greece has no 
need of it, she already has too much coast, and 
Salonica in her possession means only an unjust 
monopoly and a check upon the commercial devel- 
opment of Serbia. Greece ought not to prevent her 
from completing her unity and independence by 
obtaining free access to Salonica. Even if Greece 
had the will to do so would the effort be compen- 
sated by the advantages deriving from it? 

It is in the best interest of Greece, that the 
Allies, in the future arrangement of South-East- 
ern Europe, should solve the question of Salonica, 
taking into account the real factors which domi- 
nate it. For the loss of Salonica Greece can be 
compensated by some other port and territories 
in Asia Minor. Salonica needs not to be inevitably 
incorporated with Serbia : it might be a free city 
whose freedom and neutrality would be guaran- 
teed by some international arrangement. In this 
way justice, peace, and liberty would be best 
secured. 

Thus united and constituted in one state with 
natural frontiers the Southern Slavs can prosper 
and be able to fulfill their functions of a bulwark 
against any idea of world dominion. But manj 



202 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

a reader will be naturally prompted to ask what 
will be the constitution of this future state. 

We have an important document which defines, 
in this respect, the standpoint of the Southern 
Slavs. A conference was held at Corfu last sum- 
mer, at which the members of preceding Serbian 
coalition-cabinet, the members of the present cab- 
inet and the representatives of the Jugoslav Com- 
mittee of London were present. These various 
factors, with the aid of the president of the Ser- 
bian parliament, discussed many questions which 
concern the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes, 
and as a result of their deliberations a resolution 
was adopted which we quote. 

"As the authorized representatives of Serbs, 
Croats and Slovenes, we declare that the desire 
of our whole race is to liberate itself from any 
foreign domination and to constitute a free, na- 
tional and independent state — a desire, based on 
the principles that every people are free to dis- 
pose of themselves. We agree that this state 
must be founded on modern and democratic prin- 
ciples, which follows : 

"1. The state of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes— 
who also are known by the name of Southern 
Slavs or Jugoslavs — shall be a free and indepen- 
dent kingdom, whose territory shall be indivisible 
and all these three-named co-nationals shall have 
a single allegiance. This state shall be a consti- 
tutional monarchy, democratic and parliamentary, 
having at its head the dynasty Karageorgevic, 
which has always shared the national sentiments 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 203 

and has put above all the liberty and the will of 
the people; 

"2. The name of this state shall be 'The king- 
dom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'; and the 
sovereign shall bear the title of 'King of the 
Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes'; 

"3. This State shall have one coat of arms, one 
flag and one crown; these emblems shall be com- 
posed of the present national emblems and its 
unity shall be symbolized by the coat of arms and 
the flag of the Kingdom. The flag of the King- 
dom, as the symbol of the unity, will be hoisted on 
all State buildings; 

"4. The special Serbian, Croat and Slovene 
flags have equal right and shall be freely displayed 
on all occasions; the same applies to the special 
coats of arms ; 

"5. The three national denominations: Serb, 
Croat and Slovene, are legally on an equal footing 
in the kingdom and every one can use them freely 
at any occasion of public life and before all au- 
thorities ; 

"6. The two alphabets, Cirillic and Latin, have 
the same rights and shall be used freely on the 
territory of the kingdom; the royal authorities 
and the local autonomous authorities have the 
rights and the duty to employ the two alphabets, 
according to the wishes of the citizens ; 

"7. All recognized religions shall be freely and 
publicly professed; the religions: orthodox, Ro- 
man-catholic and mussulman, which are chiefly 
professed by our nation, shall be equal and shall 



£04 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

have equal rights from the state point of view. 
The legislative body shall carefully safeguard the 
confessional freedom according to the spirit and 
the traditions of the whole of our nation; 

"8. The calendar shall be made uniform as 
soon as possible; 

"9. The territory of the kingdom of Serbs, 
Croats and Slovenes shall extend over the terri- 
tory on which our nation— denominated under the 
above three names — is living in compact masses 
and without injury to the vital interests of the 
community. Our nation does not want anything 
that belongs to another and is only claiming what 
is justly due to it. The nation desires to liberate 
itself and constitute its unity. For this reason 
it firmly refuses any partial solution of the prob- 
lem of its liberation from the Austro-Hungarian 
domination and desires a union with Serbia and 
Montenegro in one single state, constituting one 
indivisible unit; 

"10. The Adriatic sea shall — in the interest of 
liberty and equal rights of all nations — be free 
and open to all ; 

"11. All citizens on the territory of the king- 
dom are equal and have the benefit of the same 
rights and privileges, according to laws; 

"12. The elections of the representatives of the 
national parliament shall be by universal, equal, 
direct and secret vote; the same applies for the 
election in the municipalities and other adminis- 
trative institutions. The vote will take place in 
each municipality ; 

"13. The constitution established after the con- 



ASPIRATIONS OF SOUTHERN SLAVS 205 

elusion of peace by the constituting assembly, 
elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage, 
will serve as a basis for the whole life of state; 
it will be the beginning and the end of all authority 
and all rights by which the whole national life 
will be regulated. The constitution will give the 
people the possibility of exercising its particular 
energies in the local autonomous districts de- 
limited by the natural, social and economic con- 
ditions. The constitution must be adopted in its 
entirety by a certain majority, as ordered by the 
constituting assembly. The constituting as- 
sembly, as well as the laws voted by it, shall be 
valid only after the King's sanction.' f 

This document was signed by Mr. N. Pasie, the 
prime minister of Serbia, and Dr. Trumbic, a 
member of the Austrian parliament, chief of the 
national Croat party at the diet of Dalmatia. It 
follows that the future Southern Slav state is to 
be a true fatherland with complete equality for 
all of them: Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. That 
state can only be a commonwealth based upon the 
broadest principles of democracy; a nation gov- 
erned in the interests and by the full consent of 
the governed. 

The Southern Slavs take Italy for their pattern. 
The existing differences between the Southern 
Slavs are less than those which existed between 
Piedmont, Tuscany, Naples, and Sicily. Neverthe- 
less, the Italian statesmen of the risorgimento 
were able to create a united Italy. This unity 
has proved a success; and the Southern Slavs 
believe that their unity will be equally successful 



THE UNITED STATES AND THE 
SOUTHERN SLAVS 

THE growth and marvelous development of 
the United States having exercised a 
mighty influence all over the world, could 
not but influence also the life of the Southern 
Slavs. Nearly a million of Serbs, Croats and 
Slovenes from Austria-Hungary have migrated to 
this country, where they have found refuge, free- 
dom and prosperity. Many of them, by remitting 
smaller or larger sums to their families at home, 
have helped the Southern Slav population in its 
hard struggle against political oppression and 
economic exploitation by their masters. Besides 
that American social and political institutions 
moulded their soul and imbued them with a spirit 
of freedom and human dignity that never more 
could they meekly endure the humiliating condi- 
tions at home. The returning emigrant imported 
into Austria-Hungary American ideals of Democ- 
racy. But unable to change the established order 
of things or to shake the oppressive dominance of 
Germans and Magyars, their restlessness and dis- 
satisfaction engendered a spirit of brooding re- 
volt. Their eyes and their hopes were more fre- 

206 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 207 

quently turned to Serbia. But this served only 
to increase the vigilance of their oppressors and 
to precipitate the present crisis in Europe. 

Especially in the time of the Russo-British jeal- 
ousies, Great Britain was prejudiced to the cause 
of the Southern Slavs, considering them as po- 
litical cats-paws in the service of Russia. She 
preferred Turkish rule to Slav independence, and 
consequently at the Berlin Congress her diplo- 
macy was instrumental in the prolongation of 
Turkish misrule in the Southern Slav provinces 
as well as in handing over to Austria-Hungary the 
Serbian provinces of Bosnia and Hercegovina. 

How the Southern Slavs suffered at the hands 
of the Great European powers can be well illus- 
trated by the instructive story of the treacherous 
strangulation of freedom and independence of the 
old-time Serbo-Croatian republic of Ragusa (Du- 
brovnik). 

It was during the Napoleonic wars that West- 
ern Europe for the first time came into contact 
with Southern Slavs. The Frenchmen having occu- 
pied Ragusa, on January 6th, 1808, Marment, Gen- 
eral-in-Chief in Dalmatia, declared : ' ' The Repub- 
lic of Ragusa has ceased to exist.' ' Her govern- 
ment, the senate, as well as the law courts were 
dissolved by the same order. But the British fleet 
ceaselessly cruised up and down, and prevented 
the French from maintaining secure communica- 
tion between Italy and Dalmatia. In 1808 the Dal- 
matian island of Lissa was made the port of call 
for British ships, and after several successful en- 



208 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

gagements between the British and French, Lissa 
was strongly fortified and formally taken posses- 
sion of in 1812. The island prospered under 
British rule, and the population rose from 4000 
to 11,000, and from Lissa the British extended 
their occupation of all the Ragusan islands and 
blockaded Ragusa itself. Upon the islands the 
British set up a provisional government under 
Ragusan nobles, and the old Ragusan laws were 
revived. Captain Lowen issued a proclamation 
to the Ragusans declaring that : i ' The English and 
Austrian forces were advancing towards this 
country to give it back its liberty. . . . Remem- 
ber that you bear a glorious name, and fight as the 
Spaniards and the Russians have fought to restore 
your independence." 

The Ragusan count Caboga and marchese Bona 
raised a force of 3000 men who cooperated with 
the British. The French were driven out from 
Canali, and when, on November 15th, 1813, cap- 
tain Hoste arrived at Ragusavecchia, he at once 
had the Ragusan standard of St. Blaize hoisted, 
saluted it with twenty-one guns from his frigate, 
and proclaimed the independence of the Republic. 

On January 3rd, 1814, the Austrian general 
Milutinovic arrived before Ragusa at the head of 
two battalions, and acting upon the instructions 
of Vienna planned the occupation of Bagusa by 
the Austrians. When twenty-five days later the 
French garrison of Ragusa capitulated, the Anglo- 
Austrians were to enter town at midday on Jan- 
uary 28th 2 1814, but the insurgents who had co- 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 209 

operated with them were not to be admitted until 
they had been disarmed. Count Caboga, who had 
been previously recognized as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Insurgent Forces besieging Ragusa, 
was most indignant, because Milutinovic had 
promised only a few days before that on the sur- 
render of the town 200 armed insurgents should 
enter it together with the British and Austrian 
troops, that the Ragusan flag should be raised on 
the forts together with those of Austria and Great 
Britain, and that the civil Government should be 
carried on by Caboga and a committee of nobles. 
Thus the Ragusans were betrayed and the inde- 
pendence of the Republic of Ragusa strangled by 
Austrian treachery, in which the British probably 
played an unwilling part. 

On the following day the Austrian standard was 
raised on the Orlando column before the Rector's 
palace, and the British fleet set sail a few days 
later. The Powers at the Congress of Vienna in 
1815 definitely handed over to Austria the state 
of Ragusa and the islands pertaining to it. But 
the Ragusan archipelago remained under British 
protection until July 16th, 1815, when it was 
handed over to the Austrians. The Ragusans 
fervently hope to-day that the injustice done to 
them a hundred years ago will be made good now, 
and foreign rule over them cease for ever. 

The Slav movement in Austria-Hungary for 
autonomy or independence seldom found sym- 
pathy in Western countries. This was so, partly 
owing to mistrust of Russia and partly owing to 



210 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the strange ignorance of Slav things in general. 
All Western ideas about the Slavs have until quite 
recently been formed on the basis of the biased 
information from German sources. For a thou- 
sand years the Germans have been constantly en- 
croaching upon the Slav territory, and they knew 
that the decisive battle between the German and 
Slav worlds was approaching, and it is a new 
proof of the German insight and magnificent or- 
ganization that they understood how to suggest 
about the Slav prejudices useful to them. More- 
over, owing to the fatal blunder of the Russian 
tsar Nicholas I, who saved Austria by defeating 
the Hungarian revolutionaries, the Magyars were 
until these last days considered as champions for 
freedom, and complaints against the fearful op- 
pression of the Slav nations by the Magyar 
oligarchy were disregarded or decried as mere 
Panslavic agitation. 

Happily the Western nations awoke before it 
was too late. Thanks to many independent and 
unprejudiced authors, who studied matters at the 
spot, a better knowledge was spread concerning 
Southern Slavs, and their just grievances against 
the Germano-Magyar rule in Austria-Hungary 
moved all sincere friends of European liberties. 
The annexation of Bosnia and Hercegovina, when 
a solemn international treaty was violated, gave 
an insight into the political moral of German 
statesmen and was a prelude to the violation of 
Belgium. The world at last realized that the com- 
plete subjugation of the Southern Slavs and the 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 211 

crushing of Serbia was only a necessary step to 
the realization of the vast and ambitious scheme 
of German domination over the world. 

The political opinion in the West suddenly per- 
ceived that the long neglected or simply ignored 
Southern Slav question had come into the fore- 
ground and could no longer be put off. But the 
importance of that question is even yet dimly con- 
ceived and hardly generally understood ; although 
very able political men in Europe have clearly pro- 
fessed that the Southern Slav question is a big 
European problem, and requires to be treated ac- 
cording to its importance, independent of any 
temporary policy towards Russia or to any other 
state of Europe. It will be the key of the remak- 
ing of all Europe on a hew and broader basis. 

Meanwhile since the outbreak of the present 
war, the American pioneers and the American 
public have already done very much. The South- 
ern Slav claims to freedom, unity and self-govern- 
ment have been met in the United States with 
warm and sincere sympathy. 

Serbia in her heroic struggle receives to-day 
all assistance moral and material, not only from 
the American government, but from the public — 
which is rather more important, and a pledge of 
fruitful results beneficent to both nations. 

First the correspondents of American papers, 
all of them independent and unprejudiced ob- 
servers, have proved themselves without a single 
exception sincere and convinced champions of the 
Southern Slav cause, after having visited Serbia 



212 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and been acquainted on the spot with the Serbian 
nation and its aspirations. After them the Rocke- 
feller J s Medical Missions have done really a her- 
culean work. With devotion and unsurpassed 
self-sacrifice they have organized a fight against 
epidemic disease, the most dreadful of Serbia's 
enemies, many members of them falling as vic- 
tims of that campaign. It was a work of love and 
human pity, and has won the hearts of every 
Serbian for the noble sons and daughters of the 
United States. And as is always the case with 
sincerely loving men, those who have done most 
for Serbia, even imperiling their own lives, have 
been openly protesting how little they have done 
for Serbia, and how great a debt democracy owes 
to Serbia in this war. All of them, like the cor- 
respondents and independent writers on Serbia, 
have been the best eye-witnesses of the hardships, 
endurance and bravery of the Serbian soldiers, 
of the unspeakable sufferings, of the terrible losses 
sustained by the entire nation. But more than 
that. They have spread through America a bet- 
ter knowledge of Serbia and the character of her 
nation. They have brought the testimony that 
the Serbian peasant, who constituted 90 per cent 
of the Serbian population, is not only a brave 
soldier, but a gentle and lovable creature, very 
modest and endowed with a deep feeling of grati- 
tude for the good done to him. They have bravely 
denied the poisonous calumnies about the South- 
ern Slav nation, systematically fabricated in 
Vienna for reasons now obvious to every one. All 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 213 

of them have gone to Serbia with rich presents 
for her wounded and suffering ones, and have re- 
turned home enriched by the love, sympathy and 
blessings of a grateful nation. 

We sincerely desire and fervently hope that the 
relations between America and the Southern Slavs 
will not stop short with these noble beginnings of 
official and private help given to Southern Slavs 
during a world war. It would be a pity if the 
seeds so generously sown would be neglected, the 
field abandoned and the harvest never brought in. 
And the Southern Slav field is promising a very 
rich harvest in every respect. At last America 
by force of historical events has been brought in 
closer contact with the Southern Slav nation ;, she 
has already taken part in its destiny; but it is 
necessary now to enlarge and deepen the existing 
relations and to work purposedly for the remak- 
ing of a nation in a powerful and free unity, and 
the beneficent results for world peace will appear 
at once. 

The Southern Slavs, owing to their past history 
and to the present social organization, being with- 
out powerful commercial classes or an hereditary 
aristocracy, can develop, if unhampered by the 
encroachments of other aggressive nations, only 
as a peaceful democracy, devoid of any imperial- 
istic tendency. The United States have every 
political interest in helping and strengthening the 
formation of such political organizations through- 
out Europe. The Southern Slavs, when all united 
in one national state, will number about 14,000,000. 



214 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE 

They can be no danger to any neighbor, but can 
be a mighty wall against any state or coalition of 
states which should wish to use the Adriatic as a 
basis for a policy of domination and conquest. The 
intensity of their national feeling and the uncom- 
promising desire for independence, together with 
the fighting qualities of the Southern Slavs, are 
the best guarantee for the freedom and indepen- 
dence of their neighbors, as the Southern Slavs, 
jealous of their own liberty, will be the first to 
fight any new attempt at a conquest of the Bal- 
kans, no matter from what quarter. 

But there is a very grave question before 
the United States : to whom shall the islands of the 
Dalmatian archipelago in the Adriatic belong! 
Poor, without any world industry and commerce, 
the Southern Slavs will have neither the means 
nor the ambition to build a strong" navy. The 
Dalmatian archipelago in the hands of the South- 
ern Slav state would be the best guarantee for the 
world that these islands and channels will never 
be used against the freedom of the sea, as may 
easily be the case in the hands of a commercial 
and more powerful nation. A little more business- 
like policy and sound egotism can be useful to 
the United States in this case, if they think to 
assure the freedom of the sea in the Mediterra- 
nean. Fortunately both a business-like policy and 
sound egotism are in perfect harmony with the 
moral principles so solemnly proclaimed by the 
Entente Powers at the beginning of the war, viz., 
that the national rights of small nations will be at 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 215 

last fully recognized. The Dalmatian islands eth- 
nographieally and commercially belong to the 
Southern Slavs, and what would be the results of 
the Italian occupation of them we have already 
dealt with in a previous chapter: "The Problem 
of the Adriatic' ' from the point of view of Italian 
and Southern Slav relations. But it is the duty of 
the United States politicians to think well over 
what would be the consequences of such an occupa- 
tion for the freedom of navigation in the Mediter- 
ranean. 

Humanity would be far more happy and pro- 
gressive if the nations would keep alive the 
memory of the evils and miseries of which their 
history is full. It is the pious desire of every 
friend of humanity that the present war should 
be the last, and that the European nations should 
find out better means for settling their differences 
than by sword and fire. But let us have no illu- 
sions; however sweeping may be the changes of 
the political map of Europe, her nations cannot 
be cured at once from evil thoughts dictated by 
Fear and Hatred, inspired by ambitious desire 
for wealth and dominion under which they have 
suffered and worked until now. It would be foolish 
policy to demolish the natural locks and to open 
wide the sluices to the muddy tide of swollen am- 
bitions. As the flood can never come from the 
small nations, the best means for stemming up 
that tide is to strengthen and fortify their posi- 
tion. Unsatisfied or weak, they can easily be en- 
snared by the wiles of insinuating diplomacy, or 



216 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

simply trampled upon like Belgium and Serbia, 
and their dead body used by force or by consent 
to swell the forces of the conquering tide. The 
Southern Slav nation is the best example for the 
illustration of the above truth. If united and for- 
tified in its ethnographical boundaries it would 
become satisfied and contented. The entire im- 
petuosity of its temperament and the ardent in- 
tensity of its patriotism would be turned into a 
peaceful channel for the economic development 
of its vast territories, for the more noble achieve- 
ments in the arts and sciences of its young and 
unfettered genius. The Southern Slavs would 
become a conservative power, jealously guarding 
their unity and independence. The interests and 
general line of policy of the Southern Slav state 
would be in complete harmony with the policy 
and interests of the United States. 

The fighting qualities of the Southern Slavs 
have not only called forth the admiration of the 
world, but they constitute a force which has 
entered into the calculation of the statesmen and 
cabinets of Europe. It can be used for good or 
for evil. They can be most nobly employed if 
allied to the forces of world democracy. Emi- 
nently peaceful and the sincere friend of liberties 
in Europe, the United States would lose nothing 
of her civilizing value if they would surround 
themselves with smaller nations, who would look 
up to them for spiritual guidance and assistance, 
and be able to render them effective and valuable 
service in fighting on their side for the triumph 



AMERICA AND SOUTHERN SLAVS 217 

of those ideals and principles which, make the 
raison d'etre of the United States. 

The United States have obtained the most noble 
and durable results in their history when their 
policy has been both just and bold. In promoting 
the constitution of the united Southern Slav na- 
tion in a strong and really independent state with- 
in its ethnographical frontiers, the policy of the 
United States would be both bold and noble. It 
would be in complete harmony with the openly 
proclaimed principle of nationality and self- 
government of each people for which they went 
to fight. Straightforward and dignified this 
country w T ill never stoop to bargain with the ideals 
and just aspirations of smaller nations. In giving 
a friendly hand to the Southern Slavs in the criti- 
cal hour of their history, when their longed-for 
dream of freedom and unity will be either realized 
or crippled, the United States would most beau- 
tifully crown the generous action of disinterested 
help given to Serbia during war. 

In the remaking of the Southern Slav nation a 
fine opportunity for insight and true statesman- 
ship is offered to the United States. 

The strategic and military advantages which 
the United States might acquire by such a policy 
are obvious. The Serbo-Croats, united in their 
ethnographical frontiers, would be strong enough 
to resist for a long time any power which should 
try to incorporate their country in a world em- 
pire, or to use the Adriatic ports as a basis for a 
policy of conquest. The freedom of the sea which 



218 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

should and must remain the paramount principle 
concerning the Mediterranean, can never be im- 
perilled by the Southern Slav state, which pos- 
sesses no navy and no means to build one in the 
future. 

The United States can be proud of the fact that 
here, as in Belgium, their interests are in full 
harmony with the high principle of freedom and 
justice to small nations. Can they fail to act thus 
without doing wrong to her moral and material 
interests! 




XI 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES WITH THE 
SOUTHERN SLAV STATE 

ANY signs are at hand that America will 
never return to her pre-war disinter- 
estedness; her moral and commercial 
interests are in Europe, and she must pay greater 
attention than heretofore to European affairs. 
The Southern Slav state in South-Eastern Eu- 
rope, like Belgium in the North-west, is a key 
country. Having from the American point of 
view the greatest analogy with Belgium, the 
Southern Slav state must be the object of 
America's special care. It will not be enough to 
help the unity and independence of the Serbo- 
Croats and Slovenes, but it will be necessary to 
assist them economically and politically in mak- 
ing their country a prosperous state, in order to 
be able to fulfill the function of a strong barrier 
against any design for conquest coming from the 
north or the east. In performing a similar func- 
tion Belgium was an ideal country. But Belgium 
had a serious disadvantage, she was too weak and 
powerless to resist the German onslaught. This 
mistake must not be repeated in the Balkans. 
This future state, inhabited by a homogeneous, 

219 



220 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

warlike nation of about fourteen millions, will be, 
from the military point of view, in a better posi- 
tion than Belgium to defend herself from any- 
future attack. But unlike Belgium she will be 
for a prolonged period in great need of financial 
and economic assistance from abroad. 

The present struggle has made obvious the 
truth that national and political interests must 
precede the purely commercial and economic ones. 
During the last generation France, because of her 
national interest, has financially assisted Russia, 
although economically and commercially Russia 
was in far greater dependence of Germany. The 
future Southern Slav state called to life by the 
superhuman endurance and sacrifices of its peo- 
ple, and by generous help and blood sacrifices also 
of its allies, is a most natural ally of democracy. 
America will have every political and moral inter- 
est to assist the progress and development of the 
Southern Slav state as of a wall protecting the 
world's peace and communications. 

The question arises now what can this state, 
independently of any political consideration, offer 
to the United States, from a purely economic and 
Commercial interest, in exchange for their finan- 
cial and economic assistance? Fortunately for 
both of them their economic interests are in such 
complete agreement, that the harmony of their 
national interests can be greatly enhanced by 
them. 

With its 14,000,000 inhabitants and a territory 
of some 260,000 square kilometres (about 100,000 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 221 

square miles), and an extensive sea-coast this new 
state will be by no means a negligible quantity. 
America will have every interest to prevent any 
other military and industrial country from sub- 
jugating it economically, as economic subjugation 
might easily lead to political and military enslave- 
ment. But besides that negative interest the 
United States must look to capture for their trade 
and industry the Southern Slav state, as its com- 
mercial and economic importance will greatly 
arise in the near future. 

In 1912 Serbia's foreign trade amounted to 
about forty million dollars, representing less than 
2% of the American trade and consequently 
arousing very little interest here ; but it must be 
remembered that Serbia without access to the 
sea, shut up on every side, had the outlet for her 
commerce only in Austria and Germany. Both 
of them did everything in their power to handicap 
Serbia's economic development, since any increase 
of her strength meant an increase in the obstacles 
against their preconceived plan of the conquest 
of Serbia and Salonica. But the potential re- 
sources of Serbia are very great, and Austria- 
Hungary, whilst hampering Serbia's development, 
strove to exclude any other competitor from the 
Serbian market. The best proof of this may be 
seen in the fact that when in 1879 Serbia concluded 
her first commercial treaty with Great Britain, 
Austria-Hungary put her veto to it and caused 
the resignation of the Ristic's cabinet which had 
negotiated that treaty. Likewise when Serbia in 



m SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

1905 negotiated a tariff union with Bulgaria, 
Austria-Hungary vetoed it and subsequently de- 
clared the tariff war with Serbia known as the pig 
war. 

But in 1913 Serbia had nearly doubled her ter- 
ritory of 1912, and the future Southern Slav state 
will be quite a new and economically far more im- 
portant country. In 1912 Serbia had a population 
of less than three millions and a territory of 48,000 
kilometres (18,650 square miles). The Southern 
Slav state, with her fourteen million inhabitants 
and a territory of about 260,000 square kilometres 
(100,000 square miles), must after the war have 
a foreign trade at least five times greater than 
Serbia of 1912. 

American commerce will have the best oppor- 
tunity of capturing the greatest part of it. But 
the buying and selling power of Greater Serbia, 
liberated from Austro-German economic and po- 
litical thraldom, will soon increase to unprece- 
dented proportions. Owing to unsettled political 
conditions and hindrances artificially inspired by 
Austria-Hungary against Serbian development 
and the merciless exploitation of their natural re- 
sources in favor of alien German elements, all the 
Southern Slav provinces have remained backward, 
and are, after Albania, economically and commer- 
cially the least developed country in Europe. 
That such a state of things was not the result of 
the incapacity of the inhabitants, nor of the 
scarcity of its natural resources can be proved by 
historical records. During Roman conquest the 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 223 

valleys of the Save and the Morava were consid- 
ered as the richest granary of the empire. Large 
imperial cities — Sirmium (to-day Mitrovica), Sin- 
gidunum (Belgrade), Naissos (Nish), Ulpiana 
(Liplian) — flourished there teeming with life and 
wealth. The unnatural diversion of trade to 
Vienna and Budapest has caused those cities to 
shrink to mere unimportant provincial towns. The 
Americans who retreated with the Serbian army 
through Montenegro and Scutari were shocked 
by the wilderness and poverty of the basin of the 
Boyana river. But professor Jiricek of the Vienna 
university tells us that: 

"la Serbian times this region now so desolate 
was in a; most flourishing condition and had a 
large population and numerous beautifully situ- 
ated towns. Even in the sixteenth century Italian 
travelers who ascended the course of Boyana com- 
pared this green land with its many villages to 
their own fair country. Large Latin and Oriental 
monasteries stood peacefully side by side. These 
cities enjoyed important privileges granted by the 
Serbian kings, tsars and despots, and their citizens 
occupied important positions in the government 
service, the ruling princes themselves often vis- 
ited these districts. The ports plied a busy 
trade," etc. 1 

The Serbo-Croat Republic of Dubrovnik (Ra- 
gusa), the secular rival of Venice, well known in 
^Western Europe by her wealth and polity, made 

i Villarj, The Republic of Bagusa, p. 137. 



224 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

all her riches by trade with mediaeval Southern 
Slav states : Bosnia, Serbia, Zeta, and Macedonia. 
Dubrovnik had her colonies all over the Balkan 
peninsula, and her consuls visited and regularly 
reported on all important mining and commercial 
centers in the Southern Slav countries. Her col- 
onies flourished in Great Britain, as proves the 
Ragusan cemetery in Southampton, and in the 
Low Countries, besides Spain and the Near East. 
Her vessels plied in all the European seas, bring- 
ing the western commodities to Southern Slav 
countries, and selling in the western markets the 
raw products of Balkan mining and agricultural 
industries. The Austrian occupation of Dalmatia 
has not only strangled the liberty of a commercial 
republic, independent for twelve centuries, but has 
killed also the commerce of her ports and obliged 
a population of the finest sailors in the world to 
emigrate to the United States, Argentina, and 
elsewhere. 

The field for American capital and enterprise 
to develop the natural resources and to foster the 
commerce of the Southern Slav state will be enor- 
mous, and we can enumerate only some of the 
chief lines. First of all, this state must enlist 
foreign capital to enlarge or to build the ports 
that will come into her possession. If the ports 
of Fiume (Rieka) and Sibenik would be able to 
accommodate the future traffic, the Dalmatian 
ports of Spalato (Splet), Ragusa (Dubrovnik) 
and a port on the coast of Montenegro must be 
greatly enlarged and reconstructed. If Salonica 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 225 

should become a free and neutral port many im- 
provements must take place in it after the war, 
in order to make that port the finest in the Medit- 
erranean, a real emporium of world commerce 
and enterprise. There is no need to appeal spe~ 
dally to the Americans in that matter, as the build- 
ing and organization of commercial ports will best 
suit their skill, enterprise and experience. 

Simultaneously with the building and improve- 
ments of the ports the Southern Slav state must 
pay their best attention to the speedy construction 
of a whole set of railway lines leading to the ports, 
and conveying the goods to be exported and im- 
ported from abroad. One of the main arteries of 
this state will still be the existing railway line 
Fiume-Zagreb-Belgrade and Belgrade-Nish-Sa- 
lonica (about 800 miles). But that line has to be 
greatly improved. Some portions will have to be 
shortened, such as Karlovac-Sisak and Mitrovica- 
Zemlin. Many bridges if they are not destroyed 
must be replaced by stronger structures in order 
to enable the traffic to be done by locomotives of 
the heaviest types. We must expect that the roll- 
ing stock on all existing lines will be carried away 
or destroyed as a consequence of the war. Thus 
the rebuilding, improvements and re-equipment 
with rolling stock of all the existing railway lines 
in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Banat would be an 
enterprise appealing to American capital and at- 
tractive to American constructive talent. But 
besides the existing lines, new lines must be con- 
structed as soon as possible. The lines already 



226 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

projected and partly in construction are the fol- 
lowing : Belgrade-Malakrsna-Pozarevac-Negotin- 
Raduevac on the Lower Danube (about 140 miles), 
Kraguevac - Kralevo - Raska-Mitrovica (Kossovo 
field) (about 100 miles) ; Krusevac-Tulari-Kur- 
sumlia-Pristina (100 miles) ; Ferizovic-Prizren 
along the river Drin to Skutari and the Adriatic 
(180 miles) ; Prizren-Dibra-Struga-Ohrid-Monas- 
tir (140 miles) ; Spalato-Konjica-Sarajevo-Donja 
Tuzla-Belgrade (250 miles) ; Spalato-Gospic- 
Karlovac (150 miles) ; Veles Monastir (70 miles) ; 
Kumanovo-Kriva Palanka (40 miles) ; Skoplje- 
Tetovo-Gostivar-Kicevo-Monastir (100 miles). Be- 
sides these, new lines recognized as of first neces- 
sity for economic development, some of the exist- 
ing narrow gauge lines through Bosnia and Serbia 
should be rebuilt to standard gauge to conform to 
and link up with the established lines — viz., Bosna 
Brod-Sarajevo-Mostar-Ragusa (200 miles), Sara- 
jevo-Vi§egrad-Uzice (80 miles). Of course the 
extensive building of the new lines of standard 
gauge will require the construction of many new 
feeder lines of narrow gauge connecting the moun- 
tainous districts with the fertile plains and larger 
towns. Only this short survey of railway-building 
in Greater Serbia (more than a thousand miles), 
which must take place immediately after the war, 
is enough to excite the interest of American capi- 
talists and railway men, and as the Serbian gov- 
ernment will welcome any American action in this 
direction we hope that best results will follow. 
If American capital, talent, and experience were 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 227 

to be employed for the construction of the South- 
ern Slav ports and railway lines, thus promoting 
the economic development of the Southern Slav 
state, many favorable results would be instantly 
forthcoming, besides the interest in payment for 
the invested capital and remuneration of skilled 
workers. With the development of the natural 
resources of the Southern Slav country the buying 
capacity of its inhabitants would be raised to a 
new unprecedented level. The products of Ameri- 
can industries would thus find a market increasing 
in importance every day. 

Independently but parallel with the construc- 
tion of railway lines there is another project which 
has of late been broached in the governing circles 
of Serbia, and whose realization might greatly 
stimulate the economic development of New Serbia 
and of all neighboring countries. It is the project 
of building a navigable waterway through Serbia 
connecting the Danube with Salonica. As every 
student of Balkan geography knows, Nature has 
provided, in this otherwise mountainous country, 
the easiest passage from the basin of the Mediter- 
ranean into central Europe. The tributaries of 
the rivers Morava and Vardar running in two op- 
posite directions have their head sources on a low 
plateau, forming the watershed between the Black 
Sea and the JEgean Sea, only 1500 feet above sea- 
level, quite indistinctly marked, thus affording the 
easiest passage for any road from Belgrade to 
Salonica naturally turning Serbia to the iEgean. 

It is believed that the projected waterway 



228 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

should, of course, follow these rivers, running 
parallel with railway lines Smederevo-Nish- 
Salonica. In the middle ages, before the arrival 
of the Turks, the Morava was navigable, and it 
can again be made so at relatively small cost. By 
merely regulating its course from Stalac to Sme- 
derevo on the Danube a navigable waterway can 
be obtained, and the cost can be paid out by mak- 
ing available many thousands of hectares of most 
valuable land now useless owing to the frequent 
inundations. The same applies to the Vardar in 
its lower reaches. The marshy ground on both its 
banks, where nothing grows but thistles, is a per- 
manent source of malaria and other diseases. 
From Stalac upwards, the Morava, as well as the 
Vardar from Kumanovo to Gevgeli, should be 
canalized by means of locks on a length of some 
300 miles. 

When the Austro-Germans last year conquered 
Serbia their first thought was turned towards this 
project. By obtaining a cheaper route to Salonica 
the development of the mineral resources of Ser- 
bia would be enormously stimulated. But not only 
Serbia but the future national Magyar state, as 
well as Transylvania and Bohemia, would avail 
themselves of that route, as all their rivers flowing 
into the Danube would be naturally connected 
with the waterway Smederevo-Nish-Saloniea. The 
agricultural and mineral products of Bohemia, 
Hungary and the central Balkan countries would 
find an easy access to the sea, and an outlet to the 
western European markets without being obliged 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 229 

to pass through Germany, or by the Lower Dan- 
ube and the Straits. The distance from Budapest 
to the nearest seaport, Eieka (Fiume), is about 
440 miles, the same as from Belgrade. The dis- 
tance by waterway to Salonica would be from 
Budapest 600 miles and from Belgrade 460 miles. 
The places in Hungary situated on the rivers 
Theiss and Maros are nearer to Salonica and fur- 
ther from Fiume than Budapest is. 

The present waterway from Belgrade by the 
Danube, Black and iEgean seas, to Piraeus is 
600 + 255 + 357, in all some 1200 nautical miles 
long; whereas the projected waterway through 
Serbia would be 350 + 265 = 615 nautical miles — 
i. e., about 600 nautical miles shorter to any port 
on the Mediterranean or to western Europe. 
Goods imported or exported by all countries of 
the basin of the Middle Danube would shorten 
their way considerably and avoid the paying of 
the heavy taxes through the Straits, as well as 
at the Sulina and the Iron Gates. The projected 
waterway would tend to minimize the importance 
of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus for the rest of 
Europe with the exception of Russia, and this can 
only be in the interest of a durable peace. Here we 
have touched only the principal features of the 
project, hoping that the American banking and 
engineering houses will fully discuss its possibili- 
ties at the conclusion of the peace, when the oppor- 
tunity for its realization would arise. 

As Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, together with all 
other Southern Slav provinces that will make up 



£30 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

the future Southern Slav state, have no manufac- 
turing industries, they would be the natural cus- 
tomer of this country in exchange for their mining 
products. The leading place might easily be taken 
by American metallurgical industries. Of course, 
many industries will be created in New Serbia, 
especially those connected with agriculture and 
the exploitation of mines and forests. But all the 
machinery, tools and agricultural implements 
must be imported from abroad, and it depends 
wholly upon American initiative and enterprise 
to be first in the market for the import of those 
goods also. 

With the exception of a narrow tract of land 
along the Dalmatian coast all Southern Slav prov- 
inces enjoy a mid-European climate. The winters 
are short, but rather cold. The snowfall is con- 
siderable. In Serbia frost may generally be ex- 
pected on more than a hundred days per annum. 
Summers are hot, with abundant rains. The 
watery valleys of the Save, the Danube, and the 
Morava are best suited for the cultivation of 
maize, and the undulating hills of Serbia and the 
rich plains of Banat produce excellent wheat. But 
although Serbia was before the war a grain ex- 
porting country, after the war Greater Serbia 
must cease to be so. Bosnia, Montenegro, Dal- 
matia, Istria and Carniola are all grain importing 
countries, and Greater Serbia as a whole can pro- 
duce grain only enough for the requirements of 
her home market. The same may be said for 
wines. Vines are grown in every South Slav prov- 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 231 

r 

ince, but with the exception of some special sorts of 
wines that might be exported on account of their 
dainty taste arid flavor, the Serbian wines could 
hardly compete with Italian and French ones. But 
the famous "Shlivovitza" is distilled in great 
quantities in Serbia and Bosnia and ought to find 
a good market here. 

Fine sorts of tobacco are grown in many dis- 
tricts of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Heree- 
govina, so much so that Greater Serbia probably 
will be one of the chief tobacco producing coun- 
tries in the world, especially for cigarettes. The 
administration of the state monopoly is greatly 
fostering the cultivation of the finer sorts of to- 
bacco. Serbian cigarettes have already a world- 
wide reputation, and the quantity and quality of 
Serbian tobacco output was increasing steadily 
before the war. 

But the real wealth of the Southern Slav state 
will consist in its mineral wealth, cattle, sheep 
and pig breeding, poultry farming and fruit grow- 
ing. The mines of Serbia and Bosnia were re- 
nowned and exploited during the Roman rule. 
Neglected during the invasion of the barbarians, 
the mining industries were greatly fostered by 
rulers of mediaeval Serbia. Wonderful tales were 
told by mediaeval travelers of the richness of the 
Balkan mines. As late as 1453 the Greek Kris- 
toboulos asserted that gold and silver sprang 
from the earth like water, and "wherever you dug 
you found large deposits of the precious metals, 
in greater quantities than in the Indies," 



232 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Kratovo, where Serbian kings minted silver and 
gold coins, Novo Brdo, Kopaonik and Rudnik 
where flourished Saxon and Ragusan colonies in 
mediaeval Serbia, were completely ruined by the 
Turks. With the independence of Serbia the min- 
ing industries are again called to life. Serbia is 
now the only European country where gold is ex- 
tracted by a Franco-Belgian company at Neres- 
nica. The copper mines of Bor are valued at a 
hundred million pounds, and are really among 
the richest in the world. The Serbian mines are 
already yielding gold, copper, silver, coal, anti- 
mony, zinc. Owing to the scarcity of capital this 
mineral wealth has just begun to be exploited. 
Before 1912 mineral ores within Serbian territory 
were discovered in six hundred areas, and were 
exploited at no more than fifty places. But the 
richest mining districts of mediaeval Serbia — 
Novo Brdo and Kratovo — incorporated with 
Serbia after the Balkan wars in 1912, are still in 
that ruined state in which they were left by the 
Turks. Bosnia, too, is as rich as Serbia in mineral 
wealth, having in addition salt and iron mines 
already exploited. In this direction may be found 
the greatest scope for American enterprise and 
investment of capital. In connection with mine- 
working enterprises it is well to mention that Ser- 
bia, as well as Bosnia, abounds in waterfalls ; and 
hydro-electrical power for labor-saving purposes 
could be easily and cheaply obtained in any min- 
ing or industrial area. 

The fierce alternations of winter and summer, 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 233 

with snow to moisten the land at the beginning 
of the growing season, and heavy summer rain 
to encourage the development of leaf and tem- 
perate fruit, is making the Southern Slav lands 
most adapted for the breeding of cattle and the 
cultivation of cereals and fruit-bearing trees. 
But instead of exporting cereals they, after 
having satisfied the needs of their population for 
bread, will turn the surplus of grain products for 
the poultry farming, breeding of cattle, and rais- 
ing of swine. The winter frosts have another 
advantage of killing the germs of cattle and tree 
diseases. Here again American capital and enter- 
prise might find a large field for action. The 
introduction of up-to-date farms, dairies and fruit 
factories has yet to be made in all these provinces. 
The plums of Serbia and Bosnia provide a con- 
siderable item of the peasants' income. But in 
later years the cultivation of finer sorts of apples, 
pears, and walnut trees is happily increased^ 
These trees grow everywhere in a wild state, and 
until recently were not valued. There is no sort 
of fruit-bearing trees of the mid-European zone 
for which the Serbian provinces are not the best 
adapted home. 

In connection with their mineral wealth, Serbia 
and Bosnia are equally rich in mineral waters of 
every kind and description. The healing prop- 
erties of the Serbian watering-places have been 
greatly appreciated by every American visitor. 
Of course, they are lacking very much in meeting 
the requirements of American guests as regards 



234 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

comfort and enjoyment. But the Serbian govern- 
ment will be glad to grant valuable concessions to 
any American companies that would undertake to 
make up-to-date improvements in order to attract 
American visitors, as the beauty of their scenery 
and their healing properties deserve more than 
recognition in full measure. As Americans must 
for a generation or longer shun the German water- 
ing-places the opportunity for Serbia is very 
great. 

American capital and skill must be again ap- 
pealed to for the building of towns and houses, 
as the Southern Slav state will want them badly. 
With the exception of Belgrade (ruined by bom- 
bardment), Zagreb, Laibach (Ljubljana) and 
Sarajevo there are no larger towns in Greater 
Serbia. All of them require many improve- 
ments: sanitation, construction of water supply, 
modern pavement, etc. Americans will be inter- 
ested as contractors and capital providers and 
the necessary loans could be guaranteed by the 
state. But private enterprise for the building o^ 
town houses will be most welcome. There is no 
rented house in Belgrade that does not pay at 
least 6 per cent annual interest on the invested 
capital, and many yield 8 to 10 per cent. With 
that the value of house properties in Belgrade is 
increasing steadily, and the shortage of dwelling- 
houses is keenly felt by the inhabitants. After 
the war those conditions will be worse, and the 
opportunity for foreign enterprise far greater. 
! The forests in Serbia before the Balkan war 



COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES 235 

covered some 30 per cent of her total area. 
Montenegro, Croatia, and Slavonia were as rich as 
Serbia, whereas Bosnia and Carniola were even 
richer, and the exploitation of their forests en- 
riched many a German enterprise. Only Dalmatia 
and the Serbian Banat are rather poorly provided 
in that respect. In all of them deciduous trees, 
especially oak and beech, but also ash, lime, wil- 
low, poplar and so forth are the chief trees. 
Coniferous woods are less important in Serbia 
and Slavonia, but not so in Bosnia, Carniola and 
western Croatia. With the improvements of 
roads and the construction of new railway lines 
the lumber industries in Serbia will become very 
important provided the foreign capital is forth- 
coming. 

Together with the building of towns, watering- 
places and dwelling-houses, American capital may 
find a remunerative investment in hotel industry 
in Greater Serbia. There was no foreign visitor 
that did not highly appreciate the beauty of the 
natural scenery in Serbia. Bosnia and Croatia 
can fairly compete with her in that respect. But 
the Dalmatian coast, especially Ragusa (Dubrov- 
nik), have called for the admiration of any one 
who by chance visited them. A walk from Dubrov- 
nik to the deep fiord of Cattaro surpasses every- 
thing in beauty and loveliness. Besides that, 
Dubrovnik and other Dalmatian towns are full of 
archaeological and artistic interest. They are the 
finest winter resorts. Dubrovnik has a mean Jan- 
uary temperature of nearly 48°. The lakes of 



236 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Plitvica in Croatia, the Adelberg cave in Carniola, 
the lake of Ohrida in Old Serbia, the plateaus of 
§ar and Zlatibor in Serbia can vie in beauty with 
any other spot on the globe. They cannot but at- 
tract large numbers of foreign visitors, and the 
building of comfortable hotels is a first necessity. 
The Serbian government, in order to attract for- 
eign capital and enterprise, is willing to grant 
land and liberal concessions : exemption from tax- 
ation, free import of all building material, etc. 

Space does not allow us to enter into many 
other interesting details, but the above lines may 
suffice to show to every inhabitant of the United 
States that the Southern Slav state is, from every 
point of view, a most interesting country for 
them. Economically and commercially the United 
States and Greater Serbia are two complemen- 
tary countries whose interests are nowhere op- 
posed and could be most harmoniously dovetailed 
together. It would be a most unhappy blow of 
ill-fate if the leading quarters of America should 
fail to grasp the present opportunity for promot- 
ing the unity, independence and economic devel- 
opment of the Southern Slavs. By seizing it they 
would serve both the highest principles of liberty 
and humanity, ensure the durability of the peace 
and increase the prosperity of their own people. 



xn 

SOUTHERN SLAVS AND PANSLAVISM. 1 

IN preparing the present war, Germany did 
everything in her power to promote the im- 
pression that the danger to European civili- 
zation lay in Panslavism. Also during the 
progress of the war the Germans have not ceased 
to work in the same direction, trying, notwith- 
standing all atrocities committed in Belgium and 
the violation of solemn treaties, to represent them- 
selves as fighters for liberty and progress against 
"the Panslav danger" and "Russian barbarism.' ' 
But the present World- War, in changing many 
ideas and dismissing many prejudices about the 
Slavs, has also among the Western nations 
effected a revision of the idea of Panslavism. 

Panslavism, to trace it historically, is a direct 
outcome of the dismemberment of the Slav nations 
which brought in its train weakness and their 
oppression by more warlike neighbors. Slav 
authors like to connect the first dim idea of Pan- 
slavism with the Polish kingdom and its dynasty 

i This chapter was written and published last year in England 
before the Russian Eevolution. As it has lost nothing of its actual- 
ity we repeat it here without any alteration. The latest events in 
Russia have only put into stronger relief some views and ideas 
expressed here. 

237 



238 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

of the Jagellons. To them was attributed the ten- 
dency to unite all Slav nations in a mightier state 
in order to be able to cope successfully with the 
constant encroachments upon Slav territories of 
Germans and Swedes as well as with the Tartar 
menace from the East. But although the Jagel- 
lons aggrandized and strengthened the Polish 
kingdom, Panslavism did not progress from the 
initial success when Lithuania joined Poland in a 
brotherly union. 

When the Southern Slav countries were con- 
quered by the Turks, many of their nobility emi- 
grated to Poland and Russia, bringing with them 
hatred for the invader, grief over the loss of their 
fatherland, and hopes that Poland or Russia 
would come to the rescue. Notwithstanding all 
the entreaties of these emigrants and the patriotic 
hymns to Polish kings sung by Serbo-Croat poets 
of the seventeenth century, the Poles never under- 
took an organized campaign for the liberation of 
the Southern Slavs, although, under Jan Sobieski, 
they saved Austria by defeating the Turks under 
the walls of Vienna in 1683. 

In the writings of the Serbo-Croat philosopher 
Krizanic 1 may be found a nearly complete and 

i KrizaniG, a Serb Boman Catholic priest, was of noble but im- 
poverished family; he was invited to Eussia to assist in the revision 
of copies of the Scriptures. He was the first Slavophil or Pan- 
slavist, and hoped by means of a grammar and lexicon to unite 
the Slav peoples, with Eussia as the elder brother. He was exiled 
to Tobolsk in 1660, notwithstanding that he was the teacher of 
Peter the Great: it is thought because he vigorously attacked the 
Greek Church in Eussia. He was a sturdy champion of the Eussians 
against German and Greek influence. 



PANSLAVISM 239 

clear vision of Panslavism. He was an ardent 
and noble patriot, who wished to make Eussia 
strong and prosperous, and see his fatherland, 
which was deeply submerged under the Turkish 
wave and totally forgotten by the world, recover 
some of its departed glories. His idea was to 
promote the free confederation of all Slav nations, 
where each of them would enjoy complete political 
autonomy based upon a democratic constitution. 
He hoped also through such a confederation to 
achieve the reunion of the Churches. In that 
Krizanic never succeeded. 

Anyhow, the idea of the Panslavism took more 
concrete shape in the past century, when in 1830 
the first society of Slavophils was formed in Eus- 
sia, to be followed by two Panslav congresses, one 
held in Prague (1848) and the other in Moscow 
(1867). 

The Eussian Slavophils, weighed down by the 
reaction of prince Metternich's system as well as 
by the excess of the revolutions in Europe, 
thought that the civilization of the Western 
nations had proved a complete failure. They 
were close students of German idealism, especially 
of Schelling and of the Hegelian philosophy of 
history. They accepted Hegel's dialetic method 
and his a priori concept of an Absolute Eeason, 
which it was believed incarnated itself in the life 
of nations. But Hegel came to the conclusion that 
the spirit of Humanity (Weltgeist) born in Asia 
incarnated itself in an inadequate form in the 
Oriental world. In Greece it attained its child- 



240 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

hood ; the history of Greece constitutes the age of 
youth. In Rome it passed through the age of 
manhood. At last in the Germanic world the 
spirit of Humanity has made its last appearance, 
having come to its maturity and with it is complet- 
ing the cycle of the mystic metempsychosis of the 
Absolute. Translated into action it meant that 
the world belongs to Germany, and all the other 
nations henceforward are left out of the historical 
process, with no other mission than slavishly to 
imitate their fortunate German neighbors and in- 
tellectual masters. The Slavophil movement took 
place in a moment when Russia and the whole 
Slav world was buoyant with fresh hopes. Russia 
prided herself in the valuable service just ren- 
dered to Europe in having freed it from the Na- 
poleonic yoke. The national spirit and the liter- 
ature of the Czechs and the Poles was wide 
awake. Even the Balkan Slavs appeared again 
on the historical scene. Serbia had formed the 
nucleus of the Southern Slav state and Europe 
received with rare enthusiasm the first publication 
of the Serbian epics. It is true that the magnifi- 
cent chorus of the great Russian writers, artists 
and thinkers was still silent, but they were fore- 
told by Pushkin and Lermontov, and the Russian 
language in their prose and verses attained all its 
beauty and might of expression. Napoleon from 
St. Helena has said the words that the future 
may belong to the Slavs. No wonder that the 
Slavs, especially the Russians, believed in a great 
^nd noble role of their race. They reacted against 



PANSLAVISM 241 

Hegel's conclusion, but instead of going forward 
they turned their eyes to the past. 

Their author Kireevski wrote that the progress 
of the state is nothing but the development of the 
inner principles upon which it is based. The 
European states, having begun by violence, must 
progress through revolutions. Owing to the ra- 
tionalism upon which their civilization is based, 
the Western countries have developed the spirit 
of individualism instead of the spirit of social 
solidarity. Consequently the Slavophils wanted 
to replace this principle of rationalism by a new 
one upon which they could establish the new type 
of civilization, which was to redeem humanity, 
and believed that they had found it in the teach- 
ing of the Orthodox church, Autocracy and 
Eussian Mir — the Parish Land-Commune. They 
strongly criticised the reforms introduced by 
Peter the Great, regretted the westernization of 
Eussia, and demanded the reversion to the con- 
dition of things anterior to the Mongolian inva- 
sion of Eussia. 

"For them the Orthodox church is a living 
organism of life and truth. It consists not in the 
number of believers, nor in the visible congrega- 
tion, but in the spiritual tie which binds them 
together. Eoman Catholicism curtails individual 
liberty for the sake of unity. Protestantism takes 
the alternative and loses its unity in its individ- 
ualism. Greek orthodoxy professes to be the only 
religion which remains true to the spirit of primi- 
tive Christianity, having harmoniously wedded 



842 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

unity and liberty by the principle of christian 
love. 

"Autocracy, as its second peculiar institution, 
was not a product of conflict and brutal force, to 
which the present parliamentary rule is but a 
natural reaction, as are the governments of the 
West. Russian autocracy was created by the free- 
will of its citizens. The tradition of the call of 
Rurik, 1 the first dynast of Russia, may not be true 
historically, but it certainly is true temperamen- 
tally, reflecting the mind of the people. Thus 
autocracy is the 'Holy Ark' of the Russian 
nation. The sovereign wishes but the good of the 
people, and this makes the parliamentary rule 
superfluous. 

"The Parish Land-Commune was called the 
corner-stone of all Russian institutions, and was 
highly prized as a realization of the Utopian 
dreams of Western socialists, who hoped to attain 
to it by way of capitalization and a proletariat. 
The socialist ideal of communal ownership of land 
and of the tools of production, it was said, needed 
not to be attained in Russia by force. There it 
is a natural product having grown from the very 
heart of the people. The creation of a proletariat 
is hence unnecessary and impossible in Russia. 
The spirit of christian resignation and self-sac- 
rifice has achieved there what selfish Western 
Europe is trying to get by a bitter class-struggle. 

i According to tradition, the Kussians in the ninth century sent 
a deputation to Burik, Prince of the Varyags in Sweden, with the 
words: "Our land is vast and fertile, but there is no order in it. 
Come and rule over u» ! ' ' 



PANSLAVISM 243 

This shows that Russian society is based upon the 
principle of self-abasement and christian love — 
far higher than the principle of Western individ- 
ualism." 1 

But the Russian government looked with a very 
suspicious eye at the movement and action of 
these * ' Slavophils. ' ' Their paper was suppressed, 
and it was only occasionally that they were al- 
lowed to publish any books or series of articles. 
Such a book, Sbomilc (miscellany), appeared in 
1852, and the Russian minister of education, 
prince Shirinski-Shakhmatov, in his report to the 
emperor, wrote about the said Sbornik: "Kireev- 
ski does not pay due respect to the immortal 
merits of the great Reformer of Russia and of his 
imperial successors." And Aksakov asserts that 
"the old Russia was organized on the principle 
of democracy, and in general all authors use much 
vagueness and allusions, which could be wrongly 
interpreted by readers of the lower classes.' • 
Thus, owing to the vagueness of their ideas, to 
their severance from the general course of Euro- 
pean civilization, and to the suspicion they 
aroused in governmental circles, they failed to 
exercise any lasting or profound influence in 
Russia. 

There was an irreconcilable dualism in the 
(conception of Panslavism as formulated by the 
Slavophils of the last century. Their failure was 
,due to their turning their back upon Western 
Europe, thus encountering the bitter opposition 

i Julius F. Hecker, Russian Sociology, New York. 



244 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

of all the Western elements in the Russian and 
Slav society and character. They attempted to 
base civilization upon autocracy, which means 
rigid, unchangeable order, and also upon democ- 
racy, which means infinite progress and perpetual 
change. In the life of Western Europe, they saw 
only one tendency, that of extreme rationalism. 
"This tendency, by excluding every divine prin- 
ciple from the life of man, appears to be pro- 
foundly atheistic. It is the denial of religious 
faith and of mystic knowledge, tiie exclusive ac- 
ceptance of science, belief in progress, positivism, 
and rationalism. According to it, religion is a 
prejudice; there is no mystic insight into the 
hidden things. From it we get the democratic 
principles of the sovereignty of the people and 
the ethics of utilitarianism, or the consecration of 
egotism. From it we also get the idea of class- 
war, the contempt of tradition and an exclusive 
tendency to a purely intellectual education." 1 

In revolting against the West the Slavophils 
took refuge in Christianity, but failed to recognize 
that Christianity is the religion of Aryan Europe. 
Even the Parish Land-Commune is an institution 
through which have passed nearly all European 
races in their social evolution. In Russia it is 
still kept alive, thanks to special geographical and 
historico-political conditions. But it has the ten- 
dency to disappear with the abolition of serfdom 
and the political emancipation of the Russian 

*A. Yastchenko, The Bole of Russia . . . in Inter-Bacial 
Problems. 



PANSLAVISM 245 

peasantry, just as the Southern Slav Zadruga — 
the family commune — has a tendency to break up 
under changed economic and social conditions. 

The Panslav congress held at Prague, 1848, was 
attended only by the delegates of Slav nation- 
alities living in Austria. The Czechs, who pro- 
moted and organized the congress, wished by the 
political cooperation of all Slavs of the Danubian 
monarchy to forge some weapon against the cen- 
tralism and germanization of Austria. The work 
of the congress was organized on a practical basis ; 
the discussions turned around the most urgent 
political and educational needs of the different 
Slav nationalities in Austria. It cannot be said 
that that congress left no impression or remained 
without any influence. The ideas and the feelings 
of Slav solidarity were strengthened, and, as far 
as it was compatible with political conditions in 
Austria, some cooperation of the Slav nation- 
alities was achieved in the Vienna parliament. 
But it is very probable that the Germans, alarmed 
by this solidarity of the Slavs, and fearing to lose 
altogether their predominance in Austria, were 
induced more easily to grant not only autonomy 
to the Magyars, but further to deliver to them 
all other nationalities in Hungary, by the opera- 
tion of Beust's Dual Settlement, thus fortifying 
and insuring their own predominance over the 
Slavs remaining in Cisleithania. 

The same cannot be said of the Panslavic con- 
gress held at Moscow in 1867. All Slav nation- 
alities from Austria-Hungary and the Balkans 



246 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

were represented, with exception of the Poles. 
The absence of such an important member of the 
Slav family cast a certain gloom on the proceed- 
ings of the congress. Anyhow, some notable 
speeches about Slav solidarity were delivered, and 
measures were proposed for encouraging the in- 
dependent development of different Slav nations. 
But a little incident at the end of the congress 
slightly marred the good impression created by 
the proceedings. At the final banquet to the dele- 
gates a Russian speaker proposed that a resolu- 
tion should be passed to the effect that all dele- 
gates expressed the wish that the Russian lan- 
guage be accepted as the literary language of all 
Slav nations, and that henceforward they would 
all print their books in the Russian language. The 
Czech delegate, Dr. Rieger, declared that that was 
a large question, which could not be decided by 
a resolution, that it necessitated mature thought 
and a meeting of all the educated classes in dif- 
ferent Slav nations. The Bulgarian delegate 
enthusiastically accepted the proposition, declar- 
ing, in the name of Bulgaria, that they would be 
delighted to accept Russian for their literary 
language. But the Serbian delegate, Mr. Vladan 
Georgevic, stated categorically that he was sure 
Serbians would never accept that proposition, as 
they considered literature to be the means for 
the political, scientific, and moral progress of the 
people, a task which could only be achieved by 
writing books in the national idioms. 

The old Slavophil movement in Russia died out 



PANSLAVISM 247 

quietly, but a new movement, again springing 
from the small and oppressed Slav nations, was 
now started, aiming at the closer union of the 
Slavs, in order to further their economic, and po- 
litical independence. The Czech deputy, Kra- 
marz, was recognized as its initiator and leader. 
This Neoslavism returned to the Krizanic's ideas 
two centuries old. The movement acknowledged 
all Slav nations as independent and accomplished 
individual communities, every one of them having 
the right to full recognition and national develop- 
ment according to their own national and social 
ideal. Cooperation between them was necessary 
for the realization of their ideal of freedom and 
self-government. Besides and before Kramarz, 
the most prominent leaders of Panslavism were 
Vodnik (Slovene poet), Kollar (Slovak bard), and 
Shafarik (Slav antiquary), all belonging to small 
oppressed Slav nationalities of Austria-Hungary, 
and their teaching was the direct result of the in- 
tolerable conditions in which their kinsfolk lived. 
The movement remained barren of any practical 
results, and the last Serbo-Bulgarian war was a 
hard blow to those who dreamt of a general union 
among Slavs. It was shown once more that Slav 
nations were liable to put above all other consid- 
erations their own narrow national interests, and 
were not prepared to sacrifice everything for the 
ideal of harmony in the Slav world. 

Better knowledge of the facts has now dispelled 
in every quarter the old representation of Pan- 
slavism as an aggressive Slav confederation bent 



248 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

on the conquest of Europe, or even of the whole 
world. Such Panslavism has never really existed 
even as an idea, except in the heads of certain 
Germans who wanted to teach the Slavs what Pan- 
slavism ought to be. Germans unable to under- 
stand the Slav world, as they failed to understand 
Great Britain, France or America, judged the 
others after their own image. For more than a 
thousand years Germans encroached "upon Slav 
countries. By fire and sword they have german- 
ized millions of Slavs, and have incorporated in 
Germany hundreds of thousands of square miles 
of Slav territory. But their appetite grew in eat- 
ing; they were not satiated, and considered the 
Slav countries and peoples as a lawful patrimony 
and an inevitable prey. Hence the Slav resistance 
exasperated and irritated them. Of the Slavs the 
Germans could say: Get animal est tres mediant, 
quand on Vattaque, il se defend. And quite sin- 
cerely the Germans complained of the Slavs, who 
did not understand the blessings of the German 
"Kultur," and seriously meant to put an end to 
German aggression. For not allowing the Ger- 
mans to eat them up the Slavs were proclaimed 
to be aggressive barbarians, and the greatest 
danger to Europe. So Panslavism was described 
as the most dreadful thing in the world — as a 
tower of all imaginable evils and perils for Euro- 
pean civilization. Panslavism has never been 
what Germans pretended to see in it. But if Pan- 
slavism were ever to mean a military coalition of 
Slav peoples against the liberties and ideals of 



PANSLAVISM 249 

other nations, such Panslavism will never appeal 
to the Southern Slavs nor to any other Slav na- 
tions. Neither will the idea of Panslavism have 
any chance of success if it were the mere negation 
of the past and present European civilization. The 
Slavs are a European and Aryan race. As the 
youngest member of the family, they are lawful 
heirs to the vast treasury of moral and spiritual 
inheritance accumulated by European nations 
since the days of Homer. It would be a sacrilege 
not to love or to reject it. The Slavs are unable 
to commit such a crime. But if Panslavism means 
a holy desire, a lofty aspiration to aggrandize and 
to deepen the spiritual value of that inheritance 
by contributing to it some special achievements 
of the Slav genius, then such a conception of Pan- 
slavism has a charm and an attraction to which 
the Southern Slavs will be happy to contribute 
and willing to open all their heart. Panslavism, 
to have any chance of success, must be an abso- 
lute reaction against the Pan-Germanism which 
sought to impose its ideals on the world by blood 
and iron. 

The positive character of Panslavism is re- 
vealed in the historic mission assigned to the Slav 
race by its geographical position. Destiny has 
placed it on the confines of two worlds: the East 
and the West. All its life has been a prolonged 
struggle between these two principles : the Aryan 
outlook with strong belief in progress and the 
intrinsic value of individual life and effort; and 
the Mongolian, or Buddhist, which denies prog- 



250 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

ress and conceives society as a rigid and definite 
equilibrium of certain given relations. In politics 
the Aryan outlook means democracy, the Mongo- 
lian represents the doctrine of order at any cost. 
In Russia it finds its natural expression in autoc- 
racy, which shows a tendency to realize the 
Chinese theory of an unchangeable Celestial em- 
pire, in which the emperor is regarded as the Son 
of Heaven. But in Russia this tendency to deifi- 
cation of the actual is radically opposed by an 
irreconcilable hostile movement — though from the 
same source and, on the whole, of the same spirit 
— the Nihilist movement. It is the denial of all 
absolute values, the tendency to destroy every- 
thing and to reject all authority. 

"But also the Western tendency — though start- 
ing from the opposite direction to that of Oriental- 
ism, Autocracy, and Nihilism — and making a com- 
plete circuit of evolution, has reached the same 
result: the denial of the meaning of life. The 
existence of the world is, when we exclude a divine 
purpose, absurd. The existence of man is equally 
absurd, because it has no foundation. Society 
itself is absurd, because it is doomed to disappear 
like an individual thing, and like everything else 
in the world, pre-destined to eternal destruction, 
and being destitute of any divine inspiration, it 
has no eternal and intrinsic value in itself. Thus 
the Western and Eastern tendencies meet in their 
final consequences, but the result is purely nega- 
tive, or leads to the destruction of the meaning of 



PANSLAVISM 251 

life, and we do not find in it the synthesis we 
seek." 1 

Neoslavism in the field of philosophy is charac- 
terized by attempting, nevertheless, to find that 
synthesis. The deepest among the Slavophils, 
Vladimir Solov'ev, in his work, The Crisis of 
Western Philosophy, wrote: "The realization of 
the universal synthesis of science, philosophy, 
and religion must be the supreme aim and last 
result of the evolution of the thought." 2 By 
following Solov'ev, Neoslavism in its main cur- 
rent rightly understands that the mission of the 
Slav world consists not in opposing East to West, 
but in reconciling the two contending principles 
whilst rejecting the extremes of both. Solov'ev 
found this great synthesis in regenerated Chris- 
tianity. For him the universality of Christianity 
is positive, not negative. He did not believe in 
the essential supremacy of the Orthodox church, 
His cherished idea was the reunion of the 
Churches. He strongly opposed the national ex- 
clusiveness of the earlier Slavophils and put as 
the first article of his social and political credo: 
"In accepting the essential unity of the human 
race, we must regard the humanity in entirety, as 

iA. Yastchenko, The Bole of Bussia . . . in Inter-Bacial 
Problems. 

2 Vladimir Sergeyevitch Solov'ev was son of an eminent Eussian 
historian, S. M. Solov'ev; his mother was a Little Russian of a 
priestly family. During his life his works were admired, but he 
had no followers; his voice was a voice crying in the desert. Since 
his death (in 1900) his works have attained great popularity. He 
is much read, commented upon, and his followers are now numerous 
in Bussia. 



252 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

a great collective being, a social organism of 
which the different nations represent the living 
members. It is evident, from this point of view, 
that no people can live in itself, by itself, or for 
itself, but that the life of each one is merely an 
individual share in the general life of humanity." 

All his work had the tendency to reconcile and 
to unite instead of to divide and separate. For 
him the dignity of philosophy is equal to that of 
religion. Without philosophy religion cannot find 
an issue outside itself. That which is revealed 
by the mystic insight, the philosophical reasoning 
elaborates and gives value. ' ' That God exists we 
believe, what God is we make the experience and 
we know," 

Following in the footprints of Solov'ev, the 
writers of Neoslavism find that Christianity, like 
Buddhism, recognizes no absolute value except 
in eternal life, and places the moral ideal in uni- 
versal love ; but in harmony with the Aryan spirit, 
it denies neither the material and temporal world 
nor the labor of man. Christianity teaches the 
means to obtain the eternal Good in this temporal 
life. Matter and mind are reconciled in its syn- 
thesis. The genius of the Slav race in its highest 
synthetic manifestations has always reconciled 
the East and the West: witness Jan Hus in re- 
ligion, Peter the Great in politics, Leo Tolstoy in 
morals, Solov'ev in philosophy, and Ivan Mestro- 
vie in sculptural art. 

In the light of these considerations the present 
struggle between the Slavs and the Teutons has 



PANSLAVISM 253 

a deep and universal meaning. Is Germany hot 
trying to realize the conclusion of Hegel in its 
crudest and most brutal conception, that the world 
belongs to the Germans? In the German mind 
the characteristics of Western rationalism have 
been developed to their extremes. Have they not 
declared war upon liberty as well as upon Chris- 
tianity? Being exclusive to the extreme without 
power of assimilation, the German mind is unable 
to give to Europe a synthetic conception. Ger- 
many fights to exclude Eussia and the Slavs from 
Europe, and to condemn them to become an 
Asiatic race, whilst the rest of Europe is to be 
her vassal materially, intellectually and morally. 
The enthusiasm with which the Slavs are pushing 
back the German hordes proves the mystic ardor 
with which they fight for their Aryan right and 
European inheritance. Like a mighty river they 
cannot allow Germany to divert their natural 
course. They are bent on reaching their destina- 
tion and on fulfilling their mission. But there is 
a profound meaning also in the fact of who are 
the allies on both sides of this world struggle. 
Germany, whilst attempting to drive Russia from 
out of Europe, has excluded herself from the 
European family. Her allies are the Magyars, 
the Turks and the Bulgars, all three the defeated 
vanguard of Pan-Mongolism. They attack Rus- 
sia and the Slavs with a truly Oriental hatred, 
mystic, somber, and subconscious. Russia and the 
Slavs have arrested their devastating march, they 
have subdued their mystic ardor of destruction 



254 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and compelled them to accept — however out- 
wardly — the European way of life and thinking. 
Have they not joined with Germany because they 
have found in the present struggle the last oppor- 
tunity for revenge and destruction? But for this 
fact it would be impossible to imagine that " ideal- 
istic' 9 Germany could find allies only among the 
poor remnants of Asiatic races, who were never 
inspired by any other but the lowest materialistic 
tendencies. 

Who are the allies of Russia and the Slavs? 
The true European nations, the best representa- 
tives of the Aryan genius. In fighting Germany 
and her Mongol allies they fight for the Slav 
place in Europe. They are helping Russia and 
the Slavs to shake off all still lingering traces of 
the Mongolian yoke. With their help the Slav 
world will realize its synthetic mission in becom- 
ing a bridge connecting West and East. But 
every evolution passes through different cycles. 
If Russia and the Slavs in general have this mis- 
sion of bridging the gulf between Europe and 
Asia, the Southern Slavs are best fitted to form 
a first link binding the West to Russia. They are 
Slavs, but all their tendencies are European. 
They understand Russia, although Mongolism has 
left a lesser imprint upon their mind. They are 
both Roman catholic and Greek orthodox. If 
their art is mystic, it is also clear ; their national 
epics contain little of the supernatural and are 
nearest to the Greek Homeric genius. If their 
sculptor Mestrovic is deeply mystic as in his 



PANSLAVISM 255 

christian art, and if his architecture betrays 
Babylonian or Egyptian characteristics as in the 
conception of his Temple of Kossovo, he has the 
keenest sense of form and the clearest vision of 
classical beauty as revealed in his torso of a 
hero, now in the Albert and Victoria Museum in 
London. Politically, the future Southern Slav 
state will be a result and embodiment of the suc- 
cessful alliance of Western nations with the Slav 
world. 

When freedom and unity will reconcile the ever 
contending dualism in their character and history, 
which made up their tragedy, the Southern Slavs 
may look forward to a future quite different from 
their past. But in their future freedom and pros- 
perity the Southern Slavs must keep alive the 
memory of the past misery, the hardships and the 
humiliations, which were imposed upon them 
through centuries by a haughty and proud op- 
pressor. Against the German ideal of violence 
and pride they will set up their ideal of love and 
christian humility. They will not attempt to force 
other nations to accept their ideal, but with sym- 
pathy and loving curiosity will try to understand 
other nations' ideal, and to make it more perfect 
through love and sympathetic interpretation of 
it. The Southern Slavs will never forget the enor- 
mous sacrifices which Eussia sustained for their 
freedom and happiness. They will always recog- 
nize in Eussia the noble leading sister on the road 
to the attainment of a higher spiritual and moral 
ideal which they believe to be the Slav mission 



256 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

to reveal to the world. They will be happy to pay 
their debt, not by attacking the frontiers of other 
nations, but by forming a mighty wall against 
some rejuvenated desire for conquest and domina- 
tion in the world. The Southern Slavs will 
eagerly flock to Mother Moscow and Holy Russia. 
With feelings of profound gratitude they will 
kneelat the immense cemeteries which contain the 
hundreds of thousands of unknown heroes who 
sacrificed their lives for the dignity of Slavdom 
and the freedom of the world. The Kremlin and 
the Tower of Ivan the Great will not be the object 
of their pious pilgrimage, but with eager curiosity 
and admiration they will dwell in places like the 
Artists' Theater at Moscow or the picture gallery 
of the brothers Tretyakov. And with a deep feel- 
ing of devotion and reverence they will go in pil- 
grimage to Yasnaya Polyana, to breathe in the 
same atmosphere in which lived and worked the 
great prophet of Russia in order to be strength- 
ened in his teaching of love and patient suf- 
ferings. 



XIII 
A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE 

GERMANY was not satisfied with her posi- 
tion. The ambitions of her ruling caste 
knew no limits. Instead of a Germany 
strong, united and prosperous, they wished to 
build a world empire which would have for its 
base a German Central Europe. The present war 
must settle this question definitely and irrevoc- 
ably. Against German Central Europe, the Allies 
must set up a living wall of free, independent na- 
tional states. In the preceding chapters we have 
dwelt upon the necessity of creating a strong 
Southern Slav state, and we trust we have shown 
not only the possibility of this, but also all the 
dangers of any other hybrid solution. The South- 
ern Slav question, least known and so neglected 
by Europe, gave Germany the best opportunity 
of trying to solve it one-sidedly according to her 
own views and interests. 

When the Southern Slavs will be united and 
their state constituted, then by applying the same 
principle of nationality, there will arise at once 
as if by magic upon the ruins of Austria-Hungary 
new national states : Bohemia, which will comprise 
all Czech and Slovak provinces ; Hungary, which 
will become a truly Magyar state, her Slav and 

2S7 



258 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

Latin population going respectively to Bohemia, 
the Southern Slav state, and Roumania, who will 
unite within her frontiers her entire race still 
enslaved in Austria-Hungary. Italy will obtain 
her natural frontier in south Tyrol, and complete 
her national unity. Poland in the north will be 
constituted a self-governing kingdom, in which all 
Poles will be united. As every one of these new 
national states will of necessity incorporate some 
unimportant minorities of alien race, it would be 
in accordance with justice and the new spirit of 
mutual respect and tolerance which must prevail 
in future Europe, that guarantees should be pro- 
vided ensuring the existence and the free national 
development of these minorities. 

Then South-Eastern Europe will present the fol- 
lowing picture : Bohemia with about twelve million 
inhabitants, Hungary with about nine million, 
Roumania with about fourteen million, the South- 
ern Slav State with about thirteen million, Albania 
with about one and a half million, Greece with six 
million and Bulgaria with five million. Constanti- 
nople and the Straits must be placed at the discre- 
tion of the Allies, to organize that territory in an 
autonomous state and control the free passage 
through the Straits — a situation similar to that of 
the United States in Panama — Russia's economic 
interests should be fully protected, because 
she is the only European state, besides Rou- 
mania, for which the Bosphorus and the Dar- 
danelles represent a vital interest. And it goes 
without saying that Roumania should be given 



A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE 259 

full guarantees safeguarding her interests. Sa- 
lonica will be a free port under international con- 
trol. In that way the strength of the new national 
states will be fairly balanced, and as each one will 
be constituted within its own ethnical frontiers, 
they will have no incentive for war and will be 
without any ambition for conquest. 

Some years will necessarily elapse before this 
new South-Eastern Europe will evolve its own con- 
sciousness. But not a generation will pass before 
we shall see a great change in the feelings and 
relations of those nations which are now so bit- 
terly and desperately fighting one another. Prom 
Julius Caesar to William II many a conqueror has 
attempted to weld by force South-Eastern Europe 
into one state. But the living forces of her na- 
tionalities claiming freedom and self-government 
tore all those schemes to pieces, and every one had 
to begin anew. It is time that the game should be 
given up. 

When the turmoil of the war has passed away 
and the passions which blinded them have sub- 
sided, the nations of South-Eastern Europe must 
be ashamed of their present actions and firmly 
resolve that the ugly drama of our days will never 
recur. A better understanding of their own in- 
terests and a higher conscience must dawn upon 
them. They will see that they have so much in 
common that their mutual conflicts and jealousies 
crippled their power and opened the door to the 
common enemy. Placed near Germany, they can 
successfully resist her pressure and safeguard 



260 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

their own national freedom and existence only if 
they are united in one form or another. Bohemia, 
freed from the German grasp, will quickly develop 
the marvelous resources of her soil and, thaaks to 
the brilliant gifts of her population, she will soon 
attain a high rank among European nations. 
Prague will again be what it was before the Ger- 
man conquest: a capital of science, art and the 
humanities. But a prosperous, strong and inde- 
pendent Hungary will be the natural and most 
desirable ally of Bohemia. The Magyars, once 
freed from their oligarchy and cured of their over- 
whelming desire to dominate others, whilst en- 
thralling themselves to Germany, will understand 
that the small neighboring nations are the best 
guarantee of their own liberty. Notwithstanding 
national antagonisms and jealousies which es- 
tranged them, the social relations between the 
Southern Slavs and the Magyars always had a 
feature of cordiality and mutual respect. When 
after so much vain and purposeless righting they 
will meet on a basis of equality, the better impulses 
of their nature will come forward and they will 
remember those glorious pages in their history 
when side by side they fought so gallantly for 
freedom and Christianity. The Magyars will 
understand that the vainglorious paradings in the 
streets of Budapest with the flags and coats of 
arms of the conquered Southern Slav lands 
brought only misery to themselves and imperiled 
their own independence. Their foolish ambition 
to rule over the Adriatic or to have free access 



A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE 261 

to Salonica, and at the same time to treat the 
Southern Slavs, to whom those shores rightly 
belong, as third-class citizens, must be definitely 
abandoned. Then the shores of the Adriatic and 
the port of Salonica will be spontaneously open 
to them. Only in alliance and friendly coopera- 
tion with the Southern Slavs can the Magyars 
without sacrifice attain the goal which for a thou- 
sand years they were unable to reach or to fully 
enjoy. The Czechs, the Magyars, and the South- 
ern Slavs are natural allies on the field of eco- 
nomic progress and national defense. The hope 
to see them before long cooperating together is 
not one whit exaggerated, and then a new South- 
Eastern Europe as a moral entity will be — how- 
ever incompletely — constituted. Roumania would 
derive many advantages from joining in this fel- 
lowship of Bohemia, Hungary and the Southern 
Slav state. But Roumania will not feel the press- 
ing need for it. Although Hungary and the South- 
ern Slav state will offer her the shortest road to 
central and western Europe, she may prefer to 
keep aloof and to use the sea route through the 
Straits or Bulgaria. Much, indeed, will depend 
upon what will be the future relations between 
Hungary and Roumania. The Magyars cannot so 
soon forget the loss of Transylvania, and may 
hope that it would be more easy to recover it from 
Roumania than the Slav provinces torn away 
from Hungary. But here the Southern Slavs may 
play a noble part as friends of both Roumania 
and Hungary, and bring about reconciliation and 



262 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

cooperation. South-Eastern Europe will not be 
completed until Roumania joins it. Thus consti- 
tuted in a loose economic and defensive alliance, 
Bohemia, Hungary, Roumania and the Southern 
Slav state would possess in the talents of their 
population and the natural wealth of their soil 
everything necessary for progress and indepen- 
dence. Mutually depending upon each other more 
than any other nations in Europe, they ought 
sooner than other nations to develop new interna- 
tional sociability. Their future life must be the 
embodiment of the truth expressed by Solov'ev 
that "no nation can live in itself, by itself and for 
itself.' * They are to be the school of tolerance 
and mutual aid among nations, and the forerun- 
ners of the United States of Europe. 

Their material progress, freedom and indepen- 
dence would in this way be amply guaranteed. 
But it would be a rather poor ideal if they were 
not to be animated by some higher moral idea. 
Materially, economically, and politically, South- 
Eastern Europe will be complete if it includes 
Bohemia, Hungary, Roumania and the Southern 
Slav state, but its moral entity will not be per- 
fected unless all the other smaller neighbors join 
with them. Greece occupies a quite distinct geo- 
graphical and economic position. Her ways of life 
and the psychology of her people differ widely 
from those of her neighbors. Greeks are a nation 
of sailors and traders. Economically Greece has 
little to offer and less to receive in joining the 
confederation of South-Eastern Europe. But her 



A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE 263 

freedom and independence would be better re- 
spected if she joins in the loose defensive com- 
munity of her neighbors. 

Albania has really little to offer; but it is a 
moral duty of the Southern Slavs to respect 
Albania's independence and to assist the Alba- 
nians in their way of progress and state life, to 
enable them to enter South-Eastern Europe as a 
rightful and desirable member. 

Bulgaria has committed crimes which can be 
neither forgotten nor forgiven easily. It could 
hardly be expected that Eoumania and Serbia, 
who know Bulgaria's character, should like to co- 
operate with her. Eleven centuries have already 
passed since the Bulgars settled in Europe, and 
even to-day they are not sure whether they are 
a European or an Asiatic race. The original 
Bulgars lost themselves in the Slav sea, of their 
language no traces are left, but their Mongolian 
character was never totally lost. The initial 
principle of their lif elust for conquest and devas- 
tation manifested itself through centuries like 
sudden gusts of wind. Until now they have 
retained in their character much of the nature 
of their Asiatic home. There is no continuity 
in the political life of Bulgaria. Their energies 
manifested themselves in sudden rises to might 
and power like the whirlwinds of central Asia, 
driving before them pillars of sand, devastating 
the fertile oasis and annihilating the labor of man. 
But, like the whirlwind, her rises were always of 
short duration, followed by long apathy and 



264 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

inertia. Without a struggle she succumbed before 
the Turks, during five long centuries of abject 
slavery she never made any insurrection. When 
called to life by Russia's fight, she developed 
unexpected energy, but as she never knew the 
happy mean, she was carried away by swollen 
ambitions, by low passions, and lost her head. 
After this war it is possible that we may witness 
a fresh period of long prostration so familiar in 
Bulgaria's history. But this war, in shaking the 
world to its very foundations, may perhaps once 
and for all cure Bulgaria of the evil spirit of 
hatred and insane ambition which possessed her 
soul until now. The Allies can merely create the 
physical conditions, but the thorough healing must 
come by the operation of Bulgaria's own inner, 
moral energies. The question is, whether Bul- 
garia will be European or Asiatic, Slav or Mongol. 
Her choice must be freely made. If she chooses 
the latter, she may continue a life of sullen mood, 
of latent hate and creeping desire of revenge, 
breeding revolt and envy. But measures will be 
taken that she might do no great harm to anybody 
in the future. Or it may happen that she might 
repent of her foul action and wish to be received 
among the Slav and European nations she so reck- 
lessly betrayed. Let us hope that she might 
gather necessary energy to purge her conscience 
and come out with a chastised mind. Then it is 
quite logical that Bulgaria should enter the union 
of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where is her 
natural place and whom she ought never to have 



A GLANCE INTO THE FUTURE ZQ5 

deserted. The political and economic advantages 
of such a union are too obvious. But this cannot 
be achieved by any compulsion, as the Serbs, de- 
void of any ambition for conquest or ill-founded 
greatness, prefer to live in a smaller community 
where all parts would be welded in harmony and 
sympathy, than to enter a union where that har- 
mony would be lacking. But those who know Bul- 
garia do not believe the sincerity of her conver- 
sion. Dr. Dillon warns her neighbors in this 
respect, saying: "The Bulgars are at one with 
their monarch. Bulgarian sentiment, honor, hu- 
manity, are words which their descendants may 
one day invest with meaning. Their policy, how- 
ever, takes full account of these qualities in their 
neighbors, and if fortune should play them false, 
the Bulgars will again touch the chord of Slav 
kinship, and endeavor to move their 'little 
brothers' to pity and indulgence. " * Therefore, 
the first duty of her neighbors towards themselves 
and peace in the Balkans is to make Bulgaria 
harmless, and to obtain real guarantees of her 
sincerity before committing themselves to any co- 
operation with her in the future. 

Those who believe in freedom and democracy 
must equally believe in the bright future of South- 
Eastern Europe constituted upon these principles. 
Liberty will achieve her unity, which ages of 
bloodshed and forcible conquest failed to do. In 
spite of the present horrors, in spite of Coburgs 

i "Error about Bulgaria/ ' The Daily Telegraph, August 16th, 
1916. 



Z66 SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE 

and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the moral progress of the 
world cannot be stopped, as cannot be stopped 
the evolution of the stars in the sky. This world 
war has already proved, that the modern democ- 
racies are able to organize successfully resistance 
against the onslaught of the most terrible mili- 
tarism. We firmly believe and ardently hope that 
the world democracies, after this war, will be able 
to lay down sure foundations for a new and 
brighter era of humanity. 



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f£^5g|RN EUROPE V 

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( Poles. 

Ruthenians (Little Russians)""' 
I Czechs and Slovaks 

SLAVS < Slovenes 

Ser bo-Croats. 

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Longitudi 





1 tx L Y 



A C K 



INDEX 



A 

Abdul Hamid, 177 
Absolute, 240 

— reason, 239 
Adelberg Cave, 235 
Adler, Friedrich, 92 
Adrianople, 180-182, 186 
Adriatic, 47, 149-169, 182, 204, 

226, 260, 261 
Aegean Sea, 15, 41, 171, 200, 227, 

229 
Aksakov, 243 

Albania, 145-148, 180, 189, 200, 
I 222,258 
Albanian crisis, 114 
Albanians, 200 

Albert and Victoria Museum, 255 
Alexander, King, 100 

— Prince Regent, 148 

— Son of Emperor Leopold, 72 
Algeciras crisis, 94 

Alps, 171 

— Julian, 154 

Alsace-Lorraine, 12, 160, 162 
Ambassadorial Conference, 110 
America, 17, 18, 21, 162, 163, 

206-237, 248 
Andrassy, Count, 102, 103, 166 
Angevin Princess, 51 
Antwerp, 168 
Arad, 60 
Argentina, 224 
Arian Europe, 244 

— genius, 254 



Arian outlook, 250, 252 

— race, 249 

— right, 253 
Ark, holy, 242 
Arsenius, Carnoevic', 67, 70 
Article XIV, Austrian Consti- 
tution, 22 

Artist's Theatre, Moscow, 256 
Asia, 239, 262 

— Minor, 201 

Asiatic, 253, 254, 263, 264 

Athens, 188 

Atrocities, Austrian, 119 

Aurelius, Marcus, 10 

Australia, 21 

Austria, 19, 22, 33, 47, 61, 64, 

70, 71, 77, 78, 166, 238, 245 
Austria-Hungary, 18-33, 63, 78- 

93, 113, 204, 247, 257, 258 
Autocracy, 241, 242, 250 
Avala, 131 
Avars, 14, 36, 40, 45 

B 

Babylonian art, 255 

Bach, 88 

BaSka, 15, 82, 85, 86, 98 

Bagdad, 97 

Balkans, 16, 24, 26, 35, 40, 41, 

64, 65, 67, 96, 102, 170-205 
Balkan War, 109 

— League, 175, 178-188 
Baltic Sea, 38, 155 

Ban of Croatia, 62, 81-88 



2«? 



268 



INDEX 



Banat of Temesvar, 15, 63, 64, 
65, 68, 82, 85, 86, 98, 197, 198 

Baranya, 15, 82, 98 

Batory, Sigismund, 64 

Batthyany, 100 

Bavaria, Bavarians, 70, 173 

Bela IV, 68 

Bela Cerkva, 120 

Belgium, 103, 115, 116, 118, 168, 
185, 193, 216, 218-220 

Belgrade, 56, 67, 76, 100, 102, 
115, 116, 122, 123, 128-134, 
138, 139, 201, 223-234 

Belt, 155 

Berlin, 25, 88, 97, 102, 103, 112, 
177, 185, 207 

— Congress of, 101, 103, 176, 
192, 207 

Bernadotti, 53 

Beust, Prime Minister, 95, 245 

Bielina, 120, 121, 123 

Bismarck, 24, 95, 101 

BlacS, 143 

Black Sea, 38, 171, 173, 227, 229 

Blaise, St., 208 

Bohemia, 31, 33, 73, 228, 257- 
262 

Bojana, 223 

Bona, Marchese, 208 

Bonaparte, 58, 74 

Bor, 232 

Boranja, 121 

Bosna Brod, 226 

Bosnia, 15, 21, 48, 57, 65-67, 76, 
77,99-103, 108, 114, 122, 
123, 166, 176, 178, 195, 207, 
210, 224, 230-235 

— River, 47 
Bosphorus, 229, 258 
Brankovid, George, Despot, 56 

61 

— — Baron, 65, 66 



Brindisi, 154 

Budapest, 33, 64, 65, 85, 96, 98, 

99, 104, 109-112, 134, 177, 223, 

229, 260 
Buddhism, 000 
Buddhist outlook, 249, 252 
Bukarest, Treaty of, 110, 187, 

200 
Bukovina, 99 
Bulgaria, 56, 64, 65, 110, 136- 

138, 145, 170-205, 246, 258, 

261-265 
Bulgarian sentiment, honor, 265 
Bulgars, 36, 253-263 
Byzantium, 14, 41-43, 47, 53, 

54, 172 



Caboga, 208, 209 

Cabrinovic*, 111 

Cacak, 142 

Caesar, Julius, 259 

Canali, 208 

Carinthia, 15, 31, 74, 98 

Carniola, 15, 74, 98, 108, 154- 

159, 230-235 
Carnoevid, 67, 70 
Carpathians, 38, 40 
Catherine, Empress, 174 
Catholic, 92 
Cattaro, 235 
Cavell, Miss, 189 
Celestial Empire, 250 
Cemernica River, 127 
Central Empires, Powers, 29, 103, 

112, 136, 189, 190, 197 
Central Europe, 14, 257 
Cer Mountains, 117 
Cerni Verh, 120 
Cetinje, 102 
Charlemagne, 43 



INDE^ 



269 



Charles V, 62] 

— VI, 70 

Chataldja, 180, 185 
Chinese Political Theory, 250 
Christianity, 244, 251, 253, 260 
CirilHc, 203 
Cisleithania, 245 
Coburgs, 265 

Constantinople, 14, 17, 28, 49, 54, 
56, 97, 178, 181, 185, 189 

— Patriarchate of, 64 
Corfu, 202 

Corpus Juri Hungarici, 62 
Corvinus, Matthew, 61, 63, 82 
Counter Reformation, 92 
Court Chancellery, 69 
Croatia, 15, 47, 48, 59, 61, 74, 

77-81, 98 
Croatian Diet, 82 

— language, 75 
Crown War Council, 69 
Czechs, 29, 240, 245, 257, 261 

— language, 38 
Czemovitz, 99 

D 

Dalmatia, 15, 21, 52, 74, 98, 108, 

153-169, 205, 207 
Danev, 180 
Danube, 42, 44, 62, 64, 65, 86, 

120, 137-139, 154, 171, 226, 

228, 229 
Danubian Empire, Monarchy, 

18, 19, 21, 26, 33, 245 
Dardanelles, 229, 258 
De5ani, 49, 50 
Diaconus Paulus, 45 
Dibra, 226 
Dickens, 132 
Dillon, Dr., 265 
Dimitrus, Prince, 60 
Dobrudja, 187 



Donja Tuzla, 226 
Drave, 15, 47 
Drin, 226 

Drina, 117, 120-124, 130, 139 
Dual Settlement, 95, 107, 245 
Dubrovnik (Ragusa), 49, 52, 53, 
57, 58, 158, 207-209, 223-226 
Durazzo, 180 
Du§an Emperor, 37, 49, 52-56[ 



East, 49, 201, 249, 251-254 

Edward Grey, Sir, 112, 115 

Eger, 66 

Egyptian Art, 255 

England, 132 

Entente Powers, 136-138, 189, 

214 
Epics, Serbian, 75, 240, 254 
Eternal Good, 252 
European Peace, 17 
Exarchate, Bulgarian, 175 



February, 1848, Revolution of, 

81 
Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, 
62 

— of Coburg, 177, 178, 183, 184, 

190, 265 

— the Catholic, 23 
Ferisovid, 226 
Feudal System, 41, 42 

Fiume (Rieka), 88, 165, 224, 225, 

229 
Forgach, 106 
France, 19, 23, 31, 54, 69, 70, 

88, 95, 118, 124, 150, 160, 190, 

192, 195, 220, 248 
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 

94, 107-114 



270 



INDEX 



Francis Joseph I., 23, 89, 95 
Frankish State, Empire, 42 
Franklin, 166 
Franklinism, 8 
Frankopan, 78 
Franks, 14 

Frederic the Great, 70 
Frederic William II, 72 
Freeman, Historian, 50, 57 
Friedjung, Historian, 106 

G 

Gaj Ludevit, 75, 81 
Galicia, 108, 118, 119, 135 
Galwitz, 138 
Gayda Virginio, 102 
Georgevic" Vladan, 246 
Germany, 10, 19, 89, 96, 159, 

166, 167, 220, 229, 237, 240, 

253, 254, 257-260 
Gesov, 183, 184 
Gevgeli, 228 
Giolitti, 110, 188 
Glagolica, 162 
Golubac, 127 
GorchakoV, 166 
Goritza, town, 157 
Goritzia, province, 15, 74, 98, 

153, 154 
Gospid, 226 
Gostivar, 226 
Goths, 40 
GradiSka, 157 
Great Britain, 23, 31, 83, 150, 

190, 195, 207, 209, 221, 248 
Greece, 64, 136, 144, 146, 178, 

181, 187, 239, 240, 258, 262 
Gregory VII, 47 
Grey, Edward, 112, 115 
Grocka, 138 
Griin Anastasius, 88 
Gucevo, 121-125 



H 

Habrovski, 85 

Habsburg Dynasty, 22, 26, 27, 
28, 63, 70, 71 

— Empire, Monarchy, 18-20, 32, 
70 

Hannibal, 132 

Hartley, 85, 88 

Hegel, 239, 241, 253 

Helena, St., 240 

Heldne, Queen, 51 

Her&kleios, 41 

Hercegovina, 15, 21, 57, 65, 77, 
99-103, 108, 114, 164, 166- 
176, 178, 195, 207, 210 

Homer, 249 

Homeric Genius, 254 

Hungary, 22, 28, 32, 47, 48, 60, 
61, 64, 67, 69, 78-80, 257-262 

Huns, 14, 36, 40 

Hus, Jan, 252 



Idealism, German, 239 

Illyria, 74, 75, 195 

Ulyrian Court Commission, 71 

Hlyrians, 75 

Indies, 231 

Innsbruck, 84, 85 

Ipek, 49, 63 

Iron Gates, 229 

Irredenta Slava, 162 

Isker, 192 

Isonzo (Soca), 41, 47, 157 

Istria, 15, 74, 98, 108, 153-169, 

230-235 
Italian, 149-169, 205 
Italy, 29-33, 45, 46, 49, 73, 83, ! 

95, 96, 110, 111, 149-169, 198> 

205, 207, 258 
Ivan the Great, 256 



INDEX 



£71 



Jagellons, 238 

Jagodnja, 121, 122, 125 

Jarak, 120 

Jelacic, 81, 84, 85, 88 

Jews, 200 

Jiricek, 223 

Joseph I, 65, 70 

— II, 71, 72, 74, 78, 174 

Jugoslav Committee, 202 

Jugoslavs, 202 

Julian Alps, 154 

Julius Caesar, 259, 

Junkers, 166 

K » 
Kacanik, 141-144 
Kallay, 99 
Kamenica, 125 
Kant, 166 
Karadag, 141 
Karadjid Vuk, 75 
Karageorge, 76, 212 
Kara-Mustafa, 64 
Karlovac, 225, 226 
Karlovci, 99 
KiSevo, 226 

Kingdom of Heaven, 144 
Kireevski, 241, 243 
Kladovo, 66 
Knazevac, 140 
Knicanin, 86 
Kollar, 247 
Koloman, 47 
Kolonitch, 68 
Kolubara, 125, 127, 133 
Koncul, 142 
Konjica, 226 
Konopisht, 111 
Kopaonik, 129, 232 
Kosmaj, 131 
Kossovo, 37, 55, 56, 58, 90, 144 



Kossuth, 79, 80, 82 
Koumans, 68 
Kragujevac, 127, 128, 226 
Kralevo, 142, 226 
Kramarz, 247 
Kratovo, 232 
Krauss, 133 
Kremlin, 256 
Kristobulos, 231 
Kriva Palanka, 226 
Krivolak, 142, 144 
KriSanic, 238, 239, 247 
Krusevac, 56, 142, 143, 226 
Kukulevid, 81 
Kultur, 248 

Kumanovo, 179, 226, 228 
Kursumlia, 143, 226 



Laibach (Ljubljana), 42, 74, 159, 

234, 201 
Land Commune, 38, 241-244 
Latins, 19, 29, 30, 32, 258 

— tongue, 78 
Lazar, Tzar, 55, 56 
Lazarevac, 125 
Lazarevi<5, Stephan, 61 
League, Balkan, 175, 178, 179, 

183, 188 
Leo XIII, 166 
Leopold I, 65-70 

— 11,72 
Lermontov, 240 
Leskovac, 142 
Lesnica, 20 
Liege, 168 
Lientz, 85 

Lig River, 133 
Liplian, 223 
Lissa, 207, 208 
Lithuania, 238 



zn 



INDEX 



Ljubljana (Laibach) 42, 74, 159, 

234, 201 
Lodge, Oliver Sir, 119 
Logatec, 157 
Lombardy, 80, 87, 103 
London, 180, 191, 255 
Longobards, 45, 46 
Louis II, 62 
Low Countries, 225 
Lowen, Capt., 208 
Loznica, 120, 121 
Lubovia, 121 
Lucca, 51 

Ludevit Posavski, 42 
Lusitania, 189 
Lvov, 119 

M 

Macedonia, 36, 54, 56,60, 77, 

; 171-205, 224 

Machiavelli, 169 

Machiavellism, 8 

Mackensen, 136, 137 

MaSva, 118-125 

Magyars, 19, 24-28, 36, 80, 82, 

84, 196, 197, 245, 253, 260, 

261 

— language, 80 

— state, 257 
Makarius, 63 
Mala Krsna, 226 
March, 1848, 81 
Marcus Aurelius, 10 
Marica, 54 

Marne, Battle of, 118 

Maros, 60, 229 

Mavricius, 44 

Mazzini, 166 

Mediterranean, 40, 151, 152, 214, 

215, 218, 225, 229 
Medjumurje, 15 
Mestrovid, 252, 254 



Metternich, 77, 81, 92, 169, 239 

Michael, Prince, 174 

Milan, King, 100 

-*? town, 80 

Milutin, King, 37, 49 

Milutinovic, Gen., 208, 209 

Mir, 38, 241 

Misi<5 f 129, 132 

Mitrovica, Syrmia, 120, 223 

— Kossovo, 142, 225, 226 

Mohacz, 62 

Moldavia, 65 

Moloch, 29 

Monastir, 148, 180, 226 

Monfalcone, 157 

Mongolian, 241, 249, 250, 254, 

263, 264 
Mongolism, 254 
Monroe Doctrine, 7 
Montenegro, 15, 57, 89, 102, 164, 

178, 204, 223 
Morava, River, 36, 127-129, 141, 

142, 201, 223, 227, 228 
Moroccan Question, 94 
Moscow, 239, 256 
Mostar, 226 
Murat, Sultan, 56 

N 
Naissos, 223 
Namur, 168 
Naples, 205 
Napoleon Bonaparte, 58, 74, 77, 

159, 240 
Napoleon III, 89 
Narenta, 47 

National Croat Party, 205 
Near East, 224 
Negotin, 140, 226 
Nemanja Dynasty, 42, 49 
Nemanja, Stephan, 43 
Neoslavism, 247, 251, 252 



INDEX 



273 



Neresnica, 232 

Nicholas I, 210 

Nihilist movement, 250 

Nish, 129, 137, 138, 188, 201, 

223, 228 
Nishava River, 140 
Normans, 47 
Notre Dame de Paris, 56 
Novi Bazar, 102, 120 
Novo Brdo, 143, 232 

O 

Obrenovac, 125, 139 
Odescalchi, Prince, 100 
Ohrida, 226, 236 
Old Serbia, 36, 76, 77, 176 
Orlando column, 209 
Oriental hatred, 253 
Orientalism, 250 
Oriental world, 239 
Orthodox Church, 39, 241, 251 
Ostend, 97 
Ostrogoths, 45 
OstruMca, 138, 139 



Pachymeres, 51 
Palacky, 19 
Panama, 258 
Pancevo, 120 
Pan-German, 18, 30, 249 
Pan-Mongolism, 253 
Pannonia, 45 
Pan-Slav, 18, 256 
Pan-Slav Congress, 239, 245 
Pan-Slavism, 237-256 
Paris, 56, 96, 191 
Partriarchate of Constantinople, 

64 
_•_ Serbia, 63, 67, 83 
Pa§ic,205 



Paulus Diaconus, 45 

Pavlovi<5, Colonel, 132 

Ped (Ipek) 49, 63 

Pecka, 125 

Peter the Great, 238, 241, 252 

Peter, King, 148 

Petrograd, 191 

Piedmont, 80 

Piraeus, 229 

Pisa, 51 

Plitvica, 236 

Pola, 153 

Poland, 31, 64, 96, 118, 237, 238, 

258 
Poles, 238, 240, 246, 258 
Polish language, 38 
Porphyrogennetos, 41 
Postojna, 157 
Potiorek, 102, 126 
Pouqueville, 52 
Pozarevac, 226 
Prague, 239, 245, 260 
Prepolac, 143 

President Wilson, 10, 13, 14 
Pressburg, 79, 80 
Princip, 111 
Pri&tina, 143, 226 
Prizren, 66, 226 
Prokuple, 142, 143 
Prophet of Russia, 256 
Prostruga, 127, 130, 133 
Protestantism, 241 
Prussia, 70, 72, 88, 94, 95 
Pushkin, 80 
Putnik, 129, 132 

R 

RaSki, 89 
Radetzki, 80, 83 
Raduevac, 226 

Ragusa (Dubrovnik), 49, 52, 53, 
57, 58, 158, 207-209, 223, 226 



274 



INDEX 



Raja&c*, Joseph, 83, 87 

Rakoczy II, 70 

Ram, 138, 139 

Rascia, 64 

Raska, 142, 246 

Rationalism, 253 

Ravenna, 51 

Rayac, 127, 130, 133 

Rector's Palace, 50, 209 

Reiss, R. A., D.Sc, 119 

Reichsrath, 29, 245 

Resorgimento, 167, 205 

Reunion of Churches, 239, 251 

Rhodope, 186 

Rieger, 246 

Rieka (Fiume), 88, 165, 224, 229 

Ristid, 221 

Rochefoucauld, 11 

Rockefeller's Medical Mission, 
211 

Roman Catholicism, 142, 241 

Roman Empire, 40, 45 

Romanesque art, 49 

Romania, 65 

Rome, 41, 42, 51, 132, 240 

Roumania, 30, 31, 33, 64, 136, 
146, 197, 198, 258, 261, 262 

Roumanians, 29, 179, 197, 198 

Rozan, 121, 122, 125 

Rudnik,126,127,232 

Rurik,242 

Ruskin, 166 

Russia, 18, 19, 29, 38, 71, 76, 95, 
116, 124, 136, 150, 155, 166, 
187, 190, 195, 207, 209, 210, 
220, 229, 237-256, 258-264 

Russian language, 38, 240 

Russian revolution, 237 

S 
gabac\ 117, 119, 125 
Sadova. 89. 95 



Salonica, 28, 137, 138, 148, 184, 

200, 201, 221, 224, 225, 227- 

229, 261 
Salzburg, 31 
San Stefano, 176 
Sar, 186, 236 

Sarajevo, 99, 111, 112, 226, 234 
Sava, St., 43 
Save River, 42, 62, 64, 65, 117, 

120-124, 130-134, 137-139, 

223 
Saxons, 68, 232 
Sbornik, 243 
Schaumburg-Lippe, 100 
Schafarik, 243 
Schelling, 239 
Schmerling, 87 
Schwarzenberg, 83, 109 
Scipio, 132 
Scutari, 223, 226 
Sebenico (gibenik), 168, 224 
Serbia, 15, 16, 20, 28-33, 36, 48, 
65-67, 89, 102-113, 149-272 

— question of, 15 
Serbian Church, 63-92 
Serbo-Bulgarian War, 110 
Serbo-Croats, 15, 16, 35-59 
Serbs, 156-266 
Serebrenica, 120 

Seres, 52 

Seton, Watson, 194 

Seven Years' War, 71 

Shadwell, 160 » 

Shlivovitza, 231 

Sibenik (Sebenico), 168, 224 

Sigismund, Batory, 64 

— King, 60 
Sicily, 205 
Singidunum, 223 
Sirmium, 223 
Sisak, 225 
Sitnica, River, 144 



INDEX 



£75 



Skoplje, 52, 56, 66, 141, 143, 201, 

226 
Slav Empire, 19 
— languages, 38, 75 
Slavonia, 15, 45, 47, 61, 64, 65, 

69, 80, 90, 235 
Slavophiles, 238-256 
Slavs, 19, 29, 30, 32, 237- 

256 
Slovaks, 79, 257 
Slovenes, 15, 16, 42, 60, 83, 

193, 201-203, 265 
Smederevo, 56, 57, 138, 139, 228 
Sobieski, Jan, 238 
Soda (Isonzo), 41, 47 
Sofia, 177, 184, 188, 190 
Sokolica, 121 
Sokolovid, 63 

Soliman the Magnificent, 57 
Solov'ev, Vladimir, 251, 252 
Son of Heaven, 250 
Southampton, 224 
South-Eastern Europe, 14, 15, 

17, 18, 127, 201, 258-266 
Southern Slav question, 15 

state, 259-266 

Southern Slavs, 15, 16, 33-92, 

149-169, 193-266 
South Hungary, 15, 61, 84, 196 
Spain, 224 
Spalato (Splet), 160, 165, 224, 

226 
Spanish succession, 69 
Splet (Spalato), 160, 165, 224, 

226 
Stalac, 142, 228 
Stephan, St., Crown of, 80 
Stepanovid, Gen., 118 
Straits, 229-258, 261 
Strossmayer, 89 
Struga, 226 
Striigkh, 92 



Struma, 1S6 

Styria, 15, 31, 98 

Sulina, 229 

Sumadia, 36, 145 

Suplikac, Stephen, 86 

Suvobor, 127, 130, 133 

Sweden, 242 

Swedes, 238 

Syrmia, 61, 65, 69, 80, 82, 86, 

98, 123 
Szecbdnyi, 79 



Tainaros, Cape of, 57 

Takovo, 127 

Tariff union, Serbo-Bulgarian, 

222 
Tartar, 238 
Temesvar, Banat of, 15, 63-65, 

69, 82, 85, 86, 98, 197, 198 
Tenedol pass, 143 
Tetovo, 226 
Teuton, 19 

Theatre Artistic of Moscow, 256 
Theophilactes Simocates, 44 
Theresa, Maria, 70 
Thrace, 179, 181 
Timok, 42, 140, 192 
Tobolsk, 238 
Tolstoy, 39, 132, 160, 252 
Tomazeo, 168 
Transylvania, 62, 64, 198, 226, 

228 
Tretyakov brothers, 256 
Trialism, 107, 108 
Trieste, 98, 153-169 
Trumbid, 205 
Tulari, 226 

Turkey, 64, 69, 180, 182 
Turks, 14, 36, 53-67, 76, 79, 

238, 253, 264 
Tuscany, 205 



276 



INDEX 



Tvrtko, King of Bosnia, 55 
Tyrol, 31, 151, 154, 258 

U 

UgleSa, 54 

United States of America, 7-14, 
31, 33, 150, 152, 162, 
163, 195, 206-237, 248, 
258 

of Europe, 20, 262 

Ulpiana, 223 

Uro§, Emperor, 54 

U2ic<§, 125, 133, 226 



Vallachia, 65 

Valevo, 121, 122, 125, 126, 131, 

132 
Valona, 154 
Vardar, 192, 201, 227 
Varyags, 242 
Vasvar, Peace of, 64 
Veles, 141, 226 
Velika Planina, 143 
Venice, 47, 53, 151, 154, 223 
Venetia, 89, 103 

Vienna, 14, 17, 33, 65, 66, 69, 72, 
73, 78, 80-87, 96, 103-105, 
109, 110, 126, 172, 238 

— Congress of, 209 

— Parliament, 29, 245 
Visegrad, 120, 123, 125, 226 
Visigoths, 45 

Vladislav, King of Hungary, 47, 

63,82 
Vlassina, 141 
Vodnik, 247 

Vojvoda, Serbian, 69, 82,86,87 
Vojvodina, Serbian, 69, 82, 86, 87 



Volga, 171 
Vrana, 141 
Vukasin, King, 54, 60 

W 

Watkins, Thomas, 52 

Weltgeist, 239, 240 

West, 49, 201, 249, 251, 252, 

254 
Western Europe, 238-240, 243, 

244 
William II, Kaiser, 17, 47, 259, 

266 
Wilson, President, 10, 13, 14 
World Empire, 14 
World War, 15 



Yasnaya Polyana, 256 
Yasigues, 65 
Yastchenko, 244, 250 
Young Turkish Revolution, 178 
Yzer, 168 

Z 

Zadruga, 38, 245 

Zaecar, 140 

Zagreb, 81, 82, 85, 106, 201, 225, 

234 
Zapolya, John, 62, 63 
Zavlaka, 125 
Zegovac, 143 
Zemlin, 123 
Zeta, 57, 224 
Zlatibor, 236 
Zrinski, 78 

Zvonimir, King, 37, 47 
Zvornik, 120, 121, 123 



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